Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

True Heroes

Author's Note: Harry is 4 years older than in the canon story. Harry will be strong, but not god-like that he will beat everyone with one spell. Neville is the Boy-Who-Lived and the focus of the prophecy. In this story the prophecy is just a vision of a possible future that has no real value. It will not it dictate where the story will be headed. It will not lead to sudden "gifts" of godly power being given for no reason at all except for "it is prophesied to happen". Story idea is pretty much the same as Knowledge is Power by SerpentSannin.

Summary: Harry Potter born with a great and intelligent mind became cold after a group of Death Eaters attacked his family at the age of 5. He lives his life growing stronger in hopes of one day bringing his mother back from her magically induced coma state.

Prologue

"Push, Lily, push." James said as he held Lily's hand through the birth.

Lily was in pain giving birth, but kept on going giving one final push before the baby came out. The healer at St. Mungos delivering the baby washed him before wrapping him in a blanket.

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Potter it's a boy." The healer handed the baby boy over into the waiting arms of Lily Potter.

Lily just looked at her son and was filled with joy because she now had a new member in her family. She looked at James and held her son to him. "Go on James hold your first-born son."

James took his son from Lily's arms and held him close. He felt so happy now that he had a child to raise and see grow up. "Our son is so peaceful he isn't even crying. He just looks with his green eyes. He has your eyes Lily." James reached his son out to Lily and she took him in her arms once more.

"So what do you want to name our baby Lily?" James asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and looked at his new-born son.

Lily gently touched her son's face and was mystified by her son's calm expression. "Harry. His name is Harry."

1 Year Later...

James was late for work again and didn't want to be reprimanded by his boss so he was running down the stairs. "Lily, I'm going to be late for work, so don't worry about making my breakfast." James yelled as he ran to the floo. He fixed his Auror robes and activated the floo before leaving for work.

"James, wait just..." Lily was cut off seeing James going into the floo. "You forgot to take your wand."

Lily waited by the floo for a few seconds holding James' wand in her hand. James came back through the floo. "Here, James, your wand." Lily handed over his wand.

"Thanks, Lily I was wondering where I had put that." James gave Lily a kiss goodbye before leaving again.

"Well it looks like it's just me and Harry eating breakfast alone again." Lily went back into the dining room and saw harry waiting for her to start breakfast. "You're such a good boy waiting for mommy."

Harry just looked at his mother and smiled. Harry ate his meal quietly and Lily was amazed every time she saw Harry doing something even as simple as eating by himself. 'He such a smart little boy my son is.' Harry looked up from his meal and spoke.

"Mom, why is dad always running out on breakfast?"

Lily was surprised to hear Harry's first word become a first sentence that froze before she could eat anymore. Gathering herself she put down her spoon and went over to Harry and hugged him. "Oh my son said his first word and also his first sentence. I'm so proud of you Harry." Lily just kept hugging her son.

Harry liked the attention he was getting and the fact that his mother was hugging him so he hugged her back.

"I can't wait to tell your dad when he gets back from work. He'll be so proud of you."

4 Years Later...

Life at the Potter house in Godric's Hollow was quite exciting for Lily, James and their son Harry.

Two years ago James was promoted to Auror captain of his own division for merits in the field. His transfiguration skills in battle made him well known throughout the magical community and he holds one of the best arrest records for bringing in criminals. After James promotion to Auror captain he had become a bigger target in the war against Voldemort and is one of the higher priority targets on the dark lord's list.

Lily herself became quite an accomplished charms mistress obtaining her mastery in charms around the same time as James promotion. She made a name for herself after participating in a few dueling tournaments held outside of England in the European area. Her strategic use of elemental battle charms won her a few championships and was ranked among the top duelist of the time. The need to be around Harry quite often to raise him right prevented her from becoming an active duelist. So she turned to spell crafting and created quite a few potent charms that are used to help in the war against Voldemort.

Harry was raised with the love and care of both Lily and James. Lily took a more active role in raising Harry since James' work as an Auror captain kept him for long and at times unscheduled hours. The war against Voldemort was at an all time high and the need for active Aurors increased making the hours of work less than satisfying. Harry still spent plenty of time with his father even if he was so busy and was shown great parental love whenever they were together. Harry grew closer to his mom since she was usually there for him all the time and James was mostly away. Harry's magic developed quite quickly and was already experiencing accidental magic a few months after he was first able to talk. Lily thought it would be a great idea for Harry to learn to control his magic so she tried to teach him to use magic. Harry being quite intelligent and a quick learner became able to perform many simple spells over the course of a year of being taught. At the same time Lily began to teach Harry to read and then to write. By the time Harry turned 4 he had already learned enough to be a third year Hogwarts student. By that time Lily wanted to expand Harry's knowledge to encompass what would be taught at muggle schools and began buying muggle textbooks.

Harry loved the books and learned all that he could learn from the textbooks his mother bought for him. The two of them grew closer bonding as Lily taught Harry magic and muggle sciences and arts.

It was a few months after Harry's birthday on October 31st 1991 (AN: Timeline will be 10 years ahead so technology advances make sense.) that Bartemius Crouch Jr., Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange, and Bellatrix Black who were four of Voldemort's inner circle stormed the Potter house. James, Lily and Harry were eating dinner at the time that they all felt the alarm wards go off signaling that there were intruders. James looked out the window and saw the four Death Eaters coming.

"Lily, go and get Harry and run for help. Get some Aurors here as quick as you can while I hold them off."

Lily got up and took Harry by the hand. "What is going on James? Is it Voldemort?"

"No, its 4 Death Eaters and they seem pretty confident since they didn't bother to hide their faces."

"Don't worry James I'll be back as quick as I can with some help." Lily said and took off running with Harry to the floo. The floo didn't seem to be responding and Lily was unable to apparate. 'Damn the floo's been cut off and there seems to be anti-apparation wards up.'

Lily began to run as fast as she could with Harry behind her out the back door.

"Barty, Rabastan and Rodolphus you three take the front and I'll surprise them from behind. We're going to find out what they have done with our lord and then kill those blood traitors."

"Just make sure you don't get too trigger happy and hit one of us in the attack Bella." Barty said snidely and walked toward the house.

Bellatrix ignored the snide remark and ran for the back of the house. As she was running she saw Lily and Harry run out the back door and away. 'Well, well, well a blood traitor's wife and her son running away from me. It's time to have some fun." Bellatrix decided to chase after Lily and Harry instead of going into the house as back up and ran after them.

'This is it James. I have to buy Lily some time to get back up Aurors or some help here as soon as possible. I'll probably be drained by then, but as long as she is safe it's okay.' James was broken out of his thoughts by the front door being blown apart by a blasting hex.

"Hello blood traitor. Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Bartemius asked in a cruel tone.

James had his wand to his side ready to fire at a moments notice. "Do what exactly?"

"Our lord has been missing since he attacked the Longbottoms and it is unlikely that it is because he wanted time alone. So I will ask only once where the dark lord is."

'Missing? Attacking the Longbottoms? Frank and Alice? What the hell is going on here?' "I have no idea what you three are talking about so leave now or the Aurors will detain you all."

Rabastan laughed. "Detain us? We've already cut off communications and put up anti-apparation and portkey wards. There is no escape and I'm quite sure your wife and son is being taken care of by Bellatrix right now."

'What! No!'

"Well time for you to die Potter." Bartemius started off with the killing curse, but James saw it coming and dodged. The battle was on.

'I have to keep running. Anti-apparation wards can go on for quite a distance.'

"Mommy what is happening? Why are we running?"

"Don't worry sweetie mommy will protect you from the bad people that are chasing us."

Suddenly a blasting hex threw the two of them off their feet. Harry's right leg was knocked against a tree breaking it and prevented him from moving it without going into severe pain.

"Well look what I have here a foolish witch who is running with her son trying to get help."

"Harry, get away from here now and get help." Harry knew that it would be quite painful to walk on a broken leg but his mother and father needed him to get help so he endured and ran as fast as he could on a broken leg.

"Silly witch, as if I'll let him get away." Bellatrix sent another blasting hex, but Lily cast a strong Protego and blocked it from harming Harry giving him enough time to get far enough away.

Bellatrix began to smile darkly. "No matter once I'm done with you I'll get your son and kill him in front of you."

"You won't lay a finger on him."

Bellatrix took the initiative and started strong with the Cruciatus Curse intending to end the battle quickly and painfully for Lily. Lily who wasn't a dueling champion for nothing, had seen it coming fast and she dodged to her left. Lily animated two golems made from dirt and stone on the ground and sent them at Bellatrix. The battle was on.

Harry was trying his best to run, but his broken leg was keeping him from moving very quickly.

'I need to hurry and get help. I need to contact the Aurors. The town isn't very far, but this pain is awful.'

Harry kept running despite the pain and eventually made it to town and called out to a middle aged man and his wife that he recognized as the town's two rune scholars.

"Mr. Raetic, Mrs. Raetic, please help me."

Harry's cry for help caught their attention and they immediately rushed to him. "Harry, what happened?"

"Death Eaters, they are attacking my parents. Please contact the Aurors and get help to them." Harry couldn't take the pain in his leg anymore because it became too great for him to bear and passed out. Mr. and Mrs. Raetic rushed Harry to their homes and made a quick call to the Ministry telling the Aurors to send help immediately. Afterwards they went to St. Mungos to drop off Harry with the healers to get his leg fixed.

"Looks like Harry is being taken care off by the healers. We need to go help Lily and James."

"Right behind you honey."

The two of them went back to Godric's Hollow and noticed that the Aurors hadn't arrived yet or were already ahead of them. They ran to the Potter house hoping that it wasn't too late to help them. They came upon a warzone that was the area that Lily and Bellatrix laid. Both were unconscious and the area around them was completely devastated. Giant craters littered the area, trees were blown apart or up-rooted, the area was scorched by flames, and there were damp areas as well.

"That's Bellatrix Black." Mr. Raetic cast a few stunners on her unconscious body and conjured metal ropes to tie her up with. Then drew a few quick runes and bound her through the magic of the runes.

Meanwhile Mrs. Raetic checked Lily for injuries or if there was any need for immediate medical attention. Seeing nothing life threatening she let her go.

"Honey you stay here and watch Lily and Bellatrix. Wait for the Aurors and don't let Bellatrix out of your sight. If she wakes stun her." Mr. Raetic stood up. "I'm going to find James and help him if need be."

Mr. Raetic ran off toward the Potter house once more and when he arrived to find a burning house he was afraid for the worse. He ran as fast as he could while cast the most powerful water charms he knew to try and douse the flames. He blasted the back door open and saw James' body lying on the floor near the front door. He ran over and picked him up before blasting the front door and leaving the house. The burning house grew in flames once more and the house collapsed into burning ruins. He saw 3 Death Eaters each of them in different states of injury and each of them missing body parts. He set James down to check for a pulse, but didn't find one. A diagnostic charm later and he knew James had died fighting the three death eaters. A few minutes later the Aurors had arrived and took the three death eaters into custody.

'This is a sad day for the Potter family. They are such good people.'

The Next Day...

Harry woke up and looked around at the unfamiliar environment that he was situated in. The pain in his right leg was gone and he felt bandages around it. He was wearing hospital robes.

'I must be in St. Mungos now. I hope mom and dad got help in time.' Harry lied down on the bed and began to think about what happened last night. 'Those Death Eaters just came out of nowhere and attacked. Why now of all times did they attack? What prompted there attacked? What has changed?'

Harry was broken out of his thoughts by the opening of the door. A nurse came in with a healer.

"My name is Healer Edward Eyan and this is my assistant June Art. How are you feeling Harry?"

"I'm feeling fine considering my leg was broken." Harry replied. "How long have I been here?"

"You were brought in last night with a severely broken right leg. Apparently the break was agitated by excessive use."

"I know I was running for help."

"Well I just have to run a few diagnostic charms and I'll leave my assistant to answer anymore question you may have." The Healer cast a few diagnostic charms and saw that the leg was healed fine and Harry should be able to walk out in a few hours as long as there wasn't too much stress put on it for a few days. Harry was in good health and the Healer left.

"June, may I call you June?"

June smiled. "Of course you may Harry."

"Please tell me the truth. What happened to my parents?"

June was surprised by Harry's question and adopted a sad look. She knew what happened to Lily and James, but she didn't want to be the one that broke the bad news to Harry and break his heart.

"Please June just tell me what happened to them. I want to know."

June walked over to Harry and took a seat on the bed. She held Harry's hand comfortingly and spoke. "Your father died last night fighting those Death Eaters that attack your home. I don't know the details, but he's gone Harry. I'm sorry."

"I see." Harry looked sad. "Tell me, what happened to my mother?"

"Your mother was found unconscious and she was diagnosed to be in a magically induced coma. The healers have been working since last night trying to bring her out of it, but nothing has worked so far." June saw Harry becoming sadder. "I'm sure the healers will be able to bring her out of it."

"Thank you for telling me the truth about what happened June." Harry shed a single tear.

June gave Harry a hug and comforted Harry in his state of distress after hearing what had happened. Harry hugged her back and cried tears of sadness.

The Next Day...

Potter Cemetery...

It was a rainy day and Harry stood in front of his father grave alone just looking at his father tombstone.

Here Lies James Potter

Loving Husband, Father and Friend

A Hero Defending His Family

1966-1991

'Dad you died protecting me and mom. If I were stronger I would have been able to help mom and maybe save her, but I wasn't. You gave your life to protect the both of us and I couldn't even save mom.'

Harry just stared at the tombstone and his eyes became cold. 'No more. I will become strong.' Harry clenched his hand into a fist.

'Voldemort died that day. We were casualties of a desperate attack of those Death Eaters that have lost. I'll make them all pay for killing you and hurting mom.'

"The healers couldn't save mom, but I'll bring her back someday."

An hour later...

The rain was still pouring and Harry was soaked when two figures came into view behind James' grave. It was Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The stood beside Harry and mourned the loss of their good friend in silence having came as soon as they heard the news.

"It's nice to see you two again Remus, Sirius."

"We only just learned what had happened through word of mouth. You didn't call us Harry. We would have wanted to be here for the funeral." Sirius said.

"There was no big funeral. Only one person beside me had come to James funeral." Harry didn't even look at the two instead just stared at the tombstone. "Voldemort's dead and everyone is celebrating. No one seems to care to mourn the lives lost that day."

Remus and Sirius were pretty angry to hear that, but also happy that Voldemort was gone. "Still Harry you should have called us because we would have wanted to be here." Remus said since the two of them really did want to be there for James' burial even if there were celebrations of Voldemort's demise.

"What are you going to do now Harry?" Sirius asked genuinely concerned for the boy now that he had no family left.

"I'm going to live alone." Harry spoke before they could say anything knowing what they were going to say. "Don't worry I can take care of myself. You don't have to live with me and leave the lives you've built behind just for me."

Remus had moved to France to escape the prejudice against "dark" creatures and created a successful business involving warding. Sirius also moved to France and started up a few night clubs which turned into successful business ventures and lives his days partying.

"Alright, but keep in contact with us and tell us if you ever need our help. We do have the means to get international portkeys." Sirius said knowing that his godson had made up his mind on the issue.

"Don't worry I'll call you two and we will still get together on the holidays just like we always do."

The three of them stood in silence in front of James Potter's grave mourning the loss of a father and a friend.