Disclaimer: The only thing I own is my imagination, and as I did not dream up Harry Potter that, most, unfortunately, means I do not own nor make any money off of the franchise
Author's Note 1
I hope this is an enjoyable read. This was easily the second hardest chapter I've ever written.
Author's Note 2
Thank you to DZ2 for the shoutout in He Is Not One Of Us. It is a response to the same challenge by the creator of the challenge himself. I definitely recommend you check it out, as I imagine it will be very different from mine.
Author's Note 3
Thank you to my betas James Marx and Akumas knight for their beta work on this story.
"Speach"
'Internal Dialogue'
Parseltongue
Chapter 2: Denial and Betrayal.
For the next number of hours, Harry Potter slumbered in a faraway land of dreams, peace and prosperity, a land where no one and nothing could touch him.
Harry Potter could not experience any stronger form of juxtaposition in relation to the world around him.
The real world was chaos. Hundreds of students, along with parents and staff watched Harry Potter reappear at the entrance to the maze with two people whom they all knew to be long dead. Yet they were not, they were as alive as ever as Lily Potter levitated her son towards the castle while James strode through the crowd to find the man whom he had come looking for, brushing off any and all questions and attempts at conversation.
…..
Albus Dumbledore watched the site before him with great worry, guilt, and apprehension. If they were back he knew it was time, he knew that the war was truly on once again, that Tom had returned.
He had known that Lily and James were not dead. He had arrived that night at Godric's Hollow to find a smoking ruin, a small black-haired infant, and a letter explaining the Potter's plan, along with what Dumbledore must do.
Having nothing better himself, Dumbledore had gone along with the plan, though he had known then that it was morally incorrect, but knew that it was probably their best hope at vanquishing Tom once and for all, and seemed to be for the greater good.
Despite his justification, Albus Dumbledore's resolve had nearly broken multiple times. First, when he realized the horrors that young Harry Potter was being subjected to. He had actually mailed them, but James had vehemently stated the plan must go on, and that sacrifices had to be made if they were to prevail.
The next time had been when Hagrid had informed Dumbledore that Harry had been told nothing, had been left completely ignorant in regards to their world. The third had come later that year when Harry had seen his family in the mirror of Erised. His heart had broken for the boy then, and he knew he could (in a sense) make it all go away.
But he couldn't, not when he had no better plan, not when the Marauders plan had fed so perfectly into the greater good, and not when, by revealing the truth, he may cause the boy only more anguish.
As Dumbledore saw the form of James Potter nearing him he sighed resignedly to himself.
'I can only hope that I have done what is right.'
…..
Hours later a very dazed, very sore, and very confused Harry Potter returned to the land of the living with a soft, inaudible groan.
Vaguely he remembered that it had not been an easy night. But why?
Slowly, vaguely, and painfully the memories began flooding back into his mind.
'It had really happened then.' He thought to himself. 'It wasn't a dream.' And it truly wasn't, Harry realized as he began to remember the travesties of the night in more detail that his worst nightmare had come true at long last.
And then he remembered the beam of light that had connected his wand with Voldemort's. He remembered the battle of wills, and his energy literally draining out of his body and then…
Harry's eyes shot open as he remembered the silver stag that had burst through the dome of light and charged down Voldemort.
Harry was broken out of his musings by a voice.
"Ah good, Mr. Potter you are awake."
It was the matron Madam Pomfrey who bustled her way towards him, all business as usual as she began running diagnostic spells, informed him of his injuries, and finally muttered a fair bit under her breath about keeping Acromantula anywhere near a school full of children.
Harry mostly ignored her, that was until another voice spoke up, one of complete calm, though the voice sounded more tired than Harry had ever heard it sound before.
"Good evening Poppy, Harry."
"Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey responded, jumping a little at the clearly unexpected visitor, "I will be right with you in a moment Albus but I need to finish my scan on Mr. Potter here."
"I am afraid my business is with Harry, and I am afraid it is rather urgent. I assure you I am equally capable of running diagnostic spells, even if I am not blessed with many of your other talents in the wide field of healing." He said to her with an inclination of his head.
"I'm sorry headmaster but I am afraid I can not let him go…"
"I am equally sorry Poppy, more so in fact, but what I and Harry have to discuss is far more important than any cut or bruise and cannot wait any longer."
He then turned his piercing blue-eyed stare onto Harry before asking.
"Do you think you can walk Harry?"
"Yes, sir," Harry answered quickly, scrambling to his feet rather quickly and nearly losing his balance. He felt extremely week, and every muscle in his body was protesting, the agonizing pain of the Cruciatus curse apparently not such a distant memory that his body had forgotten it.
Harry limped behind Dumbledore as the elder led him through the halls of Hogwarts.
"Where are we going professor?"
"My office," the man responded through a sigh. "We have much to discuss before you are thrown rudely back into a reality that you may not believe exists."
They reached the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office and it sprung aside without hesitation or need of a password. Dumbledore leads the way into his empty office and gestured for Harry to take the seat across from him which he did gratefully.
Dumbledore fixed Harry with that piercing stare, giving him the impression he was being x rayed before he spoke at last.
"So, at long last Lord Voldemort has returned."
It was a statement, not a question, Harry only nodded in confirmation.
"I would like if it is not too much for an old man to ask of you, to ask if you could grant me an account of what transpired inside the confines of that graveyard?"
"How do you know where we were?" Asked Harry.
"All will be explained in due time, my boy." For some reason there was a rather ominous look in the ancient headmaster's eyes as he spoke, his face seemed to warn of bad news.
Harry retold everything he could remember, every little detail. Dumbledore was a good audience, he did not interrupt, but nodded when appropriate. That was until he mentioned him using Harry's blood.
"He used your blood." Dumbledore's voice was suddenly sharp as he leaned forward. As Harry nodded he could have sworn that he saw a triumphant gleam in the old man's eyes, but a split second later he was sitting back looking neutral once more.
"Well, it seems as if Tom has overcome that boundary, please continue."
And continue he did, until he got to the point of their wands connecting.
"We both fired spells at the same time, I tried to disarm him with Expelliarmus" he said this rather shamefully knowing he needed far better, though Harry had always been a gifted student, he had never looked into combat magic the way he should have, "he used Avada Kedavra, but our spells intercepted each other in mid-air and… they formed some kind of golden beam that connected our wands. There were smaller beads on it, and a dome of golden light formed around us, the beads were shifting back and forward, I think it was some sort of battle of will."
"Priori incantatem." Dumbledore muttered.
"What?" Asked Harry.
"Priori incantatem is, essentially the reverse spell effect. It can be triggered through a spell if in possession of one's wand. However, the form in which it took place tonight is unbelievably rare. To my knowledge, this would have only been the third time in recorded history it took place."
"Why is it so rare?" Questioned Harry, his natural curiosity winning out over all of his other emotions.
"It is rare because it only takes place if certain circumstances are met. For one, the combatants must cast at the same time and have their spells intercept one another in mid-air, which in itself is quite rare. But there are two other variables as well. The first of which is that the two wands yielded by the combatants must be brother wands. Your wand and Voldemort's wand fit this because they both contain a feather from the same phoenix."
At Dumbledore's words, Fawkes flew through the air and landed on Harry's shoulder, looking him in the eye before letting out a soft note.
"This Phoenix in fact." Said Dumbledore, clearly amused by the actions of his familiar.
"My wand is from Fawkes?"
"Indeed." Affirmed Dumbledore. "As I was saying, there is one other factor as well, the two wizards must be relatively closely matched in terms of raw power," he quickly held up his hand, knowing that Harry would interrupt, "not skill, simply power. If the differential in power was wide enough, one of the spells would simply overpower the other. The two do not have to be equal, but there can not be an insurmountable gap between them in terms of power level."
"But after that… ." Harry trailed off, lost in thought, he was sure of what he had seen, but couldn't believe it.
"After that?" Prompted the headmaster.
"Well, I heard someone cast the Patronus charm and the dome of light broke, and the Patronus charged down Voldemort. But professor, it was… mine. It was the same stag as mine."
Dumbledore sighed, now looking every bit of his age.
"You do of course know why the stag is your Patronus Harry?"
The young man nodded and Dumbledore sighed yet again. "You will remember as well then when one year ago you had believed that it had been your father who had cast the Patronus to repel all of those dementors when in reality it had been yourself?"
Again Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued.
"I must admit to you Harry, that on that night I lied to you, the first time I have ever done so, and what I promise will be the last. I have withheld information from you, and I am not promising I will not ever do that again, but on that night I did far more than withhold information, though I certainly did that as well."
"What are you talking about headmaster?"
"Have you not figured it out yet Harry?" He asked, sounding sadder and more defeated then Harry had ever heard him sound before. Harry shook his head prompting the headmaster to go on.
"It was indeed yourself who cast that Patronus, and I told you that night that I knew of only one other who had ever cast the charm in that form. That was not a lie, but that night I told you it could not be your father because your father was dead. That, I am afraid was the lie and not a very kind one at that."
Harry's mind went blank, for several long, drawn-out moments he stared slack-jawed at Dumbledore not comprehending what he was hearing. He did the only thing he could and laughed.
"That wasn't a kind joke professor, you almost had me."
"I am not joking Harry, the evidence stares you right in the eyes."
As he said this the door to the office swung open and Harry turned around and his jaw went slack again.
There were two people walking into the office, and they looked terribly familiar.
"But you're dead," Harry said dumbly.
"Yet we are right in front of you." Said the man, an amused smile creeping onto the lips of the leader of the marauders. "We have come for you Harry, it is time to take your rightful place in our family."
"But you're dead," Harry said again, his voice cracking against his will. "He killed you, Riddle killed both of you."
"Then explain how we are here?" James Potter… no, whoever was impersonating James Potter asked Harry. Whoever it was they were doing a good job. Harry was sure there was Polyjuice in play, and then he thought of something.
"You're not." Answered Harry triumphantly, a smile spreading onto his face despite the situation. "You're Sirius, you did say you would show me how it was done."
James's face lit up for a moment before he sighed, seeming to realize the severity of the situation once more.
"Harry, I am not Sirius, and even if I was who would be playing the part of your mother?"
At this, Harry's eyes snapped to the other figure. She was above average in height, built slim with a long neck, not like her sister's but just slightly noticeable, slim and graceful as oppose to giraffe-like. Her fiery red hair fell neatly down her back and her green eyes, the same eyes that Harry saw every day in the mirror were staring at him with a kind of intense hunger in them, as if they were trying to drink in every inch of him, it was this look that put doubt in Harry, this look that poked a hole in his shield of denial.
"If you're James Potter, prove it."
The man just sighed and raised his wand.
"Expecto Patronum." From the end of the man's wand erupted an all to familiar silvery stag Patronus that cantered around the room for a number of moments before going out.
Harry's mind went blank again and then it hit him like a ton of bricks and he folded in on himself from his position in the chair.
For a few moments, he sat there, curled up in a naturally defensive position until he felt a soft hand rub his back.
"It is alright Harry, it is all over now, you've done so well, we're so proud of you but your burden is gone now, we can just be family like it always should have been."
The voice of his mother was like a razor blade against his brain, it caused him so much pain.
"You're not real!" Exclaimed Harry emotionally, but it sounded more of a question, or maybe even a plea as opposed to a statement.
"But we are real sweetheart." Said Lily softly. "We have never stopped loving you, we have never stopped missing you, and we have never stopped hoping that this day would come, the day we take you back into our family."
It was at this moment that the entrance to the office slid open once more and an unfamiliar figure stepped in.
He looked to be about Harry's age though he was tall for his age, something Harry had never been. He had a very athletic build, clearly well muscled but not bulky, he had brown eyes that seemed to crackle with some kind of fire and odd colored hair. When you looked at it directly it seemed black, and it was certainly unruly, the signs of a…?
"Who are you?" Harry's voice was flat, stunned, though he knew the answer, instinctively he knew the answer before it was given.
"Ah yes," said James, his voice practically singing with pride. "Charlus, I would like you to meet your younger brother, Harry James Potter. Harry, I would like you to meet your older twin brother, the boy-who-lived, Charlus Ignotus Potter."
For several long moments, nothing happened Harry just stared at the boy, noting how his seemingly black hair seemed to shine red in the torchlight, his soft brown eyes no longer sparkling, just observing, a neutral look on his well-defined features.
For several seconds Harry sat in stunned shock before he spoke, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Brother? Boy-who-lived?"
"Ah yes, this may take some explaining, you obviously don't remember Charlus, you're twins, he was born just before you were, so yes you have a brother. As for the boy-who-lived thing, you don't have to put up with that anymore, it's like your mother said, the weight of the world is finally off of your shoulders, the real boy-who-lived is back."
"Real boy-who-lived?" Harry's voice was flat now, completely void of emotion as he stared on, hardly knowing what to think.
"Yes, I am sorry Harry, no… we are sorry, for everything you've gone through for the cause."
"For the cause?"
"Yes, you see. You never were the boy-who-lived, there was a prophecy made before you were born that could have referred to you, , or Neville Longbottom. Long story short, whoever Voldemort attacked was the child of prophecy, he attacked Charlus, you got a scar… somehow, we think a piece of debris may have hit you, the cottage was almost blown apart, so you see, there's only one way to beat Voldemort, we had to train Charlus, train him to be the one to take that bastard down, and we've done it. But you Harry… you've played your part perfectly, we only wanted a decoy, but never in all of our wildest dreams could we have imagined you would do so well, you'll make an excellent second in command!"
Harry stood slowly and made his way towards his father, each step slow and seemingly hesitant.
With a broad smile on his face the likes of which James hadn't smiled in years, he opened his arms expectedly but was quickly taken aback when he was shoved roughly backward and his youngest son was now practically radiating fury as the objects in the room shook with the raw magic emanating off of him.
"YOU THINK THIS IS ALL SOME KIND OF GAME!" His voice came out as a cry, his voice laced with sheer fury as it shook. "You played my life like a bloody chess match…"
"Language Harry…" But Lily never got the chance to finish her chiding.
"NO, SHUT UP!" Harry could quite literally hear the portraits on the wall gasp and could hardly believe it. "YOU'VE PLAYED MY LIFE LIKE A FUCKING CHESS MATCH AND YOU WANT ME TO WATCH MY LANGUAGE? WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! WHAT THE FUCK GIVES YOU THE RIGHT…"
"Don't talk to your mother that way." Snarled the ex marauder, his temper rising as did Harry's own.
"I WILL SPEAK TO HER HOWEVER I PLEASE, IT'S NOT LIKE SHE'S EVER BEEN THERE, IT'S NOT LIKE ANY OF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN THERE!" And then his voice became deathly quiet, though it still shook with rage. "Do you have any fucking idea what I've been through? A cupboard you neglectful pricks, a FUCKING CUPBOARD! AND YOU STOOD THERE, WATCHED AND DID NOTHING! YOU WATCHED AS YOUR SON WAS STARVED, BEATEN, AND MENTALLY ABUSED!"
Lily looked as if she was holding back tears but Harry did not care, his voice went low again as he spoke the last line with a sort of malicious pleasure.
"You're not my parents, my parents died the night Voldemort attacked. I don't know what kind of heartless freaks you've become, but no parent leaves their child to live through that, you're dead to me, both of you."
Lily let out a horrified gasp and clasped her hands to her mouth, unshed tears welling up in her eyes, again Harry did not care. He didn't care about any of them, they had left him to rot, they had left him to the mercy of the Dursleys, and there was no higher form of betrayal, even Voldemort at least had the decency to be honest and upfront about it.
Harry stormed passed the lot of them, he made it to the door and made to open it when he felt something grab him from behind and he was spun around as a fist slammed into his face, breaking his glasses and sending a shard of glass down his face, opening up a wound on his cheek.
"You insolent, ungrateful little bastard." James hissed out through gritted teeth as Harry lay flat on his back completely stunned. "The world doesn't revolve around you! There are other people and we were doing it for them don't you understand anything?"
"James, that's enough." Dumbledore's voice cut in sharply but the Potter lord was having none of it.
"No Albus, this is a family matter and you will stay out of it. Did you not say the boy cared for a family? Look at him! He's a self-centered moron who thinks he's more important than…"
Harry had had enough, from his position on the ground he scooted forward and through an uppercut right between James's legs with brutal intentions.
James gasped as he fell to his knees, promptly curling into a ball.
Harry stood but had no peace.
"Don't you dare attack my father, Everte Statum."
A bolt of blue energy flew from Charlus's wand but Harry was having none of it, he sidestepped and almost fell due to his leg, he used it to his advantage though.
"Mobilicorpus."
Having been already low his aim was perfect as the leg locker surprised the golden boy and found its mark, Charlus staggered backward and tried to fire again but he was off balance.
"Flipendo." Harry's knockback jinx sent Charlus flying backward into the wall.
On instinct, Harry spun on the spot to face James. He was standing gingerly at best and looked rather sick, but there was a look of cold, hard fury that did not at all match his warm eyes.
He made to raise his wand but a shimmering blue barrier exploded into existence between the two, and both men looked to see Lily Potter looking horrified but determined as her wand was raised in a defensive position.
"Enough both of you!" She then looked to Harry and a single sob escaped her as she managed to choke out three more words before breaking down. "Go, just go."
Harry turned immediately and made his way for the door once more when James called out again.
"Don't you fucking dare! I swear to god you insolent brat if you walk out that door it's over! You will be dead to me forever and will never have a place in my family, you'll be an outcast all because…"
"All because I didn't bend the knee to your golden child?" Asked Harry, his voice neutral once more as a vicious sneer crossed his face. "Yeah, I'll pass thanks, because of you I've been an outcast all of my life, what the hell kind of difference would it make now?" Harry made to leave one final time but stopped himself at the last second and addressed the Potters one more time before leaving.
"Apparently your hearing is as poor as your morality Prongs, I already told you that you were dead to me, your love means nothing to me now, I've lived without it for fifteen years, and if you expect mine, after all, you've done you're as pathetic as your traitor friend Wormtail."
And then he left, not giving the former marauder time to respond, he just left the room, leaving his anger, his family, and his old life behind.
Author's Endnote.
So, I hope the chapter was worth the wait. This one was EXTREMELY hard to write and I know it was short but I still hope it turned out well, leave me a review to let me know what you think.
Thank you once more to my betas James Marx and Akuma's Knight for their work on this story, it is always very much appreciated, gentlemen.
I will try to not have a three-week gap before the next chapter, I'll try to have it out in the next two weeks.
