A/N so on the prologue I forgot to put a disclaimer on… so. Once upon a time there was a frog that was cursed, a princess could not free him from this curse. Nothing could. All day and all night people heard this poor frog croak, "I Don't Own Harry Potter!!"
Chapter One
Memories
"I
WILL START BY TELLING YOU THE TRUTH."
Harry
Potter was half way through his first year at the Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry. He would have never thought that being a
wizard could be so boring. True, living at Hogwarts was way better
than being tormented by his oaf of a cousin, Dudley, and his uncle
Vernon. Still, it was fairly boring- he had a need for adventure. He
had thought that Hogwarts would fulfill that need, but unfortunately
it had not.
He was startled by the sound of an owl tapping on his window pane, delivering a note that summoned him to the headmaster's office. It baffled him as to why Dumbledore should call for him in the dead of night. But Harry did not wish to question the headmaster's tactics, so he allowed himself to be roused from bed at midnight, on Wednesday (or was it Thursday now?).
"Come in, Harry," Albus called as Harry raised his hand to knock. "Harry," the professor continued, "I have called you here tonight to tell you something of the utmost importance. It is about what truly happened ten years ago."
"But professor- Hagrid already told me what happened."
"AHH- yes, I know well what Hagrid has told you."
"Then what is it you want to tell me?"
Dumbledore looked a bit worn out as he tried to figure out the best way to tell Harry what happened. Sighing, he said, "Please sit, Harry, for what I want to share with you must be shown." He got up and went to a cupboard. Coming back with a stone object, he winced at the weight. Harry, though, didn't notice; he was too busy staring at the odd runes along the edges of the stone bowl.
The headmaster explained, "It is called a pensieve, Harry. It allows one to once more view a memory long ago made. If you wish, you can view the memories of others."
Harry found that he was apprehensive about the pensieve. What was it that Dumbledore wanted him to know?
"I will start by telling you the truth. If you like, you may tell Ron and Hermione what you see. Now, come closer." And with that they dived into the pensieve.
--
They were in a white room with an odd pink spiral plant that had only two leaves and no flowers, in the corner. Harry saw four adults. None but Dumbledore looked familiar. There was a lean man with a mustache that kept wiggling. His hair was neat, not a strand out of place. Next to him stood an older man, who had to be at least a head shorter and six years older. His hair was sticking out in every direction, and he kept running his fingers through it. Most of his hair was grey now, but parts were still dark black. The man was holding a navy blue bundle.
There was a bed that was a standard rock-hard brick hospital bed, in the middle of the room. In this bed was a slightly grey-haired woman. She was holding another tightly wrapped blue bundle. The woman seemed to glow as she looked at the younger Dumbledore. He started to speak.
"Mrs. Potter, I must congratulate you on your sons- they are most beautiful."
Naomie smiled proudly, sitting up straighter in her bed. Looking down at the boy she held, she said, "I have decided to name him Harry James Potter. His brother is James Harry Potter, so it is only fitting."
"I agree wholeheartedly," Mr. Potter interjected, speaking for the first time.
--
Everything started spinning.
"Professor, what was that all about?" asked an anxious Harry.
"Let me show you a few more things. I will explain later."
With that they dived once more into the pensieve.
"Are you sure that you want to go through with this, Naomie?"
"Yes, professor- Harry is needed, after all."
"Wise choice. Have you mentioned anything to John?"
Naomie looked away, closing her eyes as she did so. "I... I… I-I couldn't bear it." Tears were streaming down her face.
"What will you tell him when he gets home?" he prodded gently.
"I
don't have a clue," she wailed.
Back in Dumbledore's office, Harry opened his mouth to ask something when he noticed that they weren't alone. Two other people were in the headmaster's office.
They were none other than Dumbledore and Dumbledore. Yes, now instead of one or maybe even two there were three headmasters. It was a fairly odd sight to see. As no one but Harry was there to witness it, however, the thought was not likely to strike another person in a similar way.
For about three minutes two of the Dumbledores just stared at one another. After what seemed like eternity, three words came out of the youngest's mouth: "Here he is."
Albus took a bundle from his younger self. It seemed to Harry that the bundle just appeared out of nowhere. They exchanged a few more urgent words before the time traveling Dumbledore took his leave.
--
A new memory then appeared, replacing the old.
--
Professor Dumbledore knocked on a red and gold door. After he waited patiently for a few seconds, a young woman opened the door a crack. "Who is it?" she whispered in a stressed tone.
"It is Albus Dumbledore, with the package," he answered calmly. Recognizing his voice rather than his words, she opened the door the rest of the way.
She smiled warmly, her eyes still a tad bit cold. Her eyes were greener than emeralds, as were her robes. The robes made her red hair stand out even more than usual. Yet one could tell that she was scared by the way she shut the door, and the way she held herself, the worry lines on her should be twenty year old face. Although she had wrinkles on her cheeks, she was still beautiful. Anyone would say so- maybe even the Dark Lord himself.
"Lily, how are you?" the headmaster asked conversationally.
"Oh… fine. Is he alright? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you think that I should feed him?" Lily asked earnestly.
"Slow down Lily, let him sit down." A new face entered the room.
He had raven colored hair. Dumbledore handed the bundle to Lily. She
cooed, cuddling the worn out babe. The man looked perplexed- How can
that be my brother, the winner of this war? he thought. He's not
quite one, yet he is to defeat the Lord Voldemort?' That was
basically what everyone was thinking, actually. Not Harry, though–
he didn't know about the saving the world thing just yet.
Everything once again started spinning; nothing but black surrounded the two memory surfers. With a thud, they landed back in Dumbledore's office. "Sit," the headmaster commanded, then listened to his own advice.
"Sir, what- what's the deal with all this? Why are–?" Dumbledore cut Harry short with a sigh.
"Harry, please try to understand what I'm about to tell you. And please don't interrupt." He held up his hand to quell the young boy's questions.
"But-."
"Harry," he warned.
"Okay," Harry sighed in defeat.
"For starters, the babe that you saw- the one that Naomie Potter was holding-."
"The one I was named after." Harry was trying to speed things along. Dumbledore very much wanted to let out an exasperated sigh, but thought better of it.
"No, Harry, you weren't named after him. You-," he was having trouble figuring out the right words to say, "You ARE him. James wasn't your father: he is your brother, your twin, to be exact. Lily Evans Potter wasn't your mother; Naomie Potter is. Jonathan B. Potter is your father- James and you, Harry, are his children."
When the headmaster finished his little speech, Harry felt that his world was collapsing around his shoulders. He could only manage a small sound and look of disbelief. Dumbledore must be lying! This was some cruel joke! Thoughts like these flew through his confused brain. He desperately wanted Dumbledore to be wrong. He would not believe it! There was a mistake, a, a mix up of some sort.
And yet, he felt it to be true. It was odd, because he would rather have James for his father. Not some guy named Jonathan. The odd part was that no matter how much he denied it, he knew it to be true. No matter what he did he could not escape the truth. No one ever did.
--
Dumbledore sat alone in his office. Sleep did not come to him that night as he stayed there pondering what he had told Harry. Like a candle before bed, the twinkle had long been extinguished from his eyes. Deep in thought, he had not guessed that Harry would take the news so hard. For a long time the Hogwarts headmaster had been biting back what he knew he had to say. He did not want to tell Harry this- not at first, at least. So at first he had said nothing.
Albus Dumbledore got up from his seat and went over (over where?) in time to see Fawkes erupt into
flames. He sighed, stroking the new chick's fluffy head. In the morning he would have to talk to Hermione, but that could wait. Tonight she needed sleep.
--
When Fawkes erupted into flames, Harry, back in his bed, was beginning to get to sleep when a random thought crossed his mind. "At least being a wizard isn't so dull ALL of the time." With that, he was out for the rest of the night.
A/N: if anybody is reading this- and somebody better be I've been working on this for almost two years!- you better review!! PLEASE REVIEW!! O, what did you think of the disclaimer? Cheesy much?
