[June 13, 1987]

"A brother!? I've got a brother?!" Harry was utterly stunned as he stared up at his uncle and aunt who were looming over him, Venom with his arms crossed and Petunia with her hands on her hips.

"Yes boy, you have a ruddy brother." The green eyed boy's uncle practically growled with hatred as a thick layer of sweat covered his angry purple features.

"And he's coming here? To live with us?" Harry couldn't help but feel a little excited at these last questions for he already knew the answers. Last night while finishing up the dinner dishes, the near seven year old had overheard his aunt and uncle discussing a boy who was coming and because Harry at first had thought it to be some other relative, he had been surprised at how upset they seemed to be about the boy's coming.

"You and he will be sharing the spare room." Aunt Petunia said quietly and at this Harry's eyes widened. He had a brother AND he was no longer going to sleep in the cupboard?!

"Now don't think..." uncle Vernon suddenly said with a sneer as he saw the gleam in Harry's eyes. "That just because you have a brother now, that your life will change significantly. Your aunt and I are doing this out of the kindness of our hearts and you better understand that just because we take him in doesn't mean we can't give him back. If you or he cause any and I mean ANY trouble for your aunt and I or Dudley then we will send him packing and there WILL be hell to pay. Do you understand?" He asked and without question, the young boy nodded still internally dancing with excitement.

A moment of silence then passed, as Harry's aunt and uncle stared down at him and if looks could kill then for sure the young black haired Potter would've dropped dead on the spot. The young boy blinked and before he knew it, his uncle ordered him away to get his things ready to move into the upstairs bedroom.

"But aren't Dudley's old things in there?" Harry asked, his aunt and uncle because for sure they hadn't put in the time or work to clean out all of Dueley's old broken toys, games and ripped clothes and with his aunts sigh, he knew he'd been right in his thoughts.

"You will clean it out when you get the hell up there!" Vernon barked and without another word, the green eyed child turned on his heel and hurried toward the cupboard under the stairs, thinking about his brother as he went.

[June 15, 1987]

Xander sat slumped over in the back seat of the Ministry vehicle as it raced down the street at what seemed to him to be impossible speeds toward his new home. He didn't want to admit it to himself but he was very excited. He was free from his old life, free from the screaming and hateful words and best of all, he was free from the everyday beatings.

He looked down at the clothes he now wore and smiled slightly. Unlike his old wardrobe which had consisted of his two large t-shirts with all their holes and his three pairs of old underpants, his new wardrobe contained three short sleeved and three long sleeved calored shirts, six pairs of nice pants, seven pairs of socks and underpants, a pair of shoes and four sets of pajamas. Was it a lot? Probably not to most but to him, he'd hit the gold mine.

Reaching out his hand, Xander fingered the strap of the midium sized Duffke that he'd been bought to keep his clothes and a few other things that he'd been given in until he arrived at his new home, he was so anxious and scared about this new change that he couldn't help but bend his head and silently pray that all would be fine.

"Bet you're really nervous young man." Said the strict looking woman in front of him in the passenger seat next to the greasy haired driver as she turned and looked at him through her spectacles and without a word he looked up and shrugged.

The dark red haired boy had seemingly not spoken another word to another soul since his conversation with the nice old man and not caring what others thought he would continue to not speak because as his father used to say, his voice was very annoying and if he spoke then no one would ever love him and oh how he wanted his new family to love him...

He breathed in deeply as the car slowed from it's race to a chug.

They were Nearly there.

He took in another deep breath and before he knew it, the car was slowing to a stop and now there the young boy sat staring at what was now the next step to his new beginning. as he watched the perfectly manicured flowers in the perfectly groomed garden sway with the breeze, he couldn't help but wonder why these people had agreed to take him in. Had the nice old man bribed them? Or did they really care? "Come on now, get out." Xander was suddenly ripped from his musings as his head snapped up in surprise.

He nodded and unbuckling his seatbelt, he grabbed the medium sized dufflebag that the nice old man had given him and opening the door he made his way to get out but not watching where he set his feet, he slipped and rolled out landing on his hands and knees, his bag by his side.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked in a worried tone as Xander pushed her hand away and got to his feet. He nodded and made a gesture to let her know that he was just fine.

"Very well, if you are ready Mr. Potter, let us get this over with." The greasy haired man said and with a nod, the small red head grabbed his bag and tried to put it over his shoulder only to realize that it was too heavy. Now absolutely frustrated, Xander stomped his foot and made a quiet whining noise.

"Here let me get tha-"

"No!" The young boy suddenly said as he jumped in front of the bag and both adults now stared at him shocked that he had spoken. "PLEASE, I'm not weak." He begged and at this, the woman's eyes widened slightly.

"Alright Xander, why don't you give it one more try." The woman said and with a nod, the small child grabbed the bag and as he did, a broad smile briefly crossed his lips for suddenly his bag was as light as a feather.

"Alright then, let's get this done." The man now spoke and with a nod, Xander clutched his bag and hurried along after them toward the house with the number 4 on it.


When the doorbell rang and aunt Petunia went to answer it, Harry stayed glued to the chair that his aunt and uncle had sat him in only a few moments ago. Though he couldn't help but fidget and squirm with excitement, he tried to remain as calm as possible.

After a few moments of silence while he, Dudley and uncle Vernon simply looked around, The young Potter's aunt reamerged and now trailing behind her were three people, two adults and a small boy that he thought looked to be maybe four or five. 'Isn't he supposed to be my age?' Harry thought to himself then shrugged the question away because he himself was rather small for his age although compared to his brother, he was not that small indeed.

"-This is my husband Vernon and our previous baby Dudley." Aunt Petunia was speaking to the woman who nodded in acknowledgement, then her eyes fell on Harry and she smiled. Then turning to the boy who was now hiding behind the man's leg, she introduced.

"I am Minerva McGonagall and this is Severus Shape, we work for the man who contacted you about young Xander here." The woman finished as the man practically peeled the small boy off of him and nudged him and his bag toward the Dursleys.

"Yes, yes... now we and the old man also agreed that we are deserving of some compensation for our generosity." Aunt Petunia said and with a nod, the dark haired man pulled out a thick parchment envelope and held it out to the woman for only a moment before pulling it back.

"Now, before I hand this over, I must remind you that you are only to spend out of this what you have spent on Harry in the past, the rest is for them." He glanced first at Xander who was standing awkwardly slightly away from everyone and looking at his shoes. then his gaze made it's way to the older of the two Potters and Harry could tell that the man was not impressed with his shabby clothes and ripped up shoes.

"Yes, yes we know this." Petunia said hurriedly as she made a grab at the envelope only to have Severus pull it slightly further away.

"And remember..." he added. "That we are only a wand away." With that, he handed over the envelope and turned to face the younger Potter. "You be a good boy John Alexander." he said and before the small boy knew it, they were gone and he was still there standing awkwardly in his new family's living room.

"Well boy, What the bloody hell sre you waiting for? Go show your damn brothet the room you two will be sharing." Uncle Vernon suddenly snapped and hurriedly jumping to his feet, Harry ran over, grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him away toward the stairs.

"DONTTOUCHMEEEE!" Xander suddenly shrieked as they reached the first step and just like that everyone in the room froze as the small red head ripped his arm from Harry's grasp and threw himself hack, his eyes wide as he continued in a whimper. "P- Pl- Pl- Please d- do- don't hur- hur- hurt me, I'm sorry..."

"I- I- I-" Harry stuttered as he stared at the other boy who now simply lay on the floor seemingly having some sort of attack

"Now look what you've done! You made him upset!" Vernon roared at Harry who took a step back in fear.

"I'm sorry." The black haired boy whispered quietly as the others simply now stared at Xander who at this point lay motionless on the floor in fetal position and after a few moments, he calmed and looked around, still breathing rather deeply he said.

"I- I- I- do- do- I do not like it." The small boy practically mouthed as he continued to breath deeply. "My- my- fa- fa- father- my father used to- he used to grab- me- me and-" the red head at that moment clamped his hands to his mouth, his eyes wide. he had barely been there ten minutes and already he'd broken down and as this realization hit him, he began to pull at his hair and squirm on the floor.

"WHY DID YOU TAKE ME IN! I'm no good, I'm a piece of trash! A LOSER!" The boy practically screamed and as she watched the tears suddenly flow down the small boys cheeks, Petunia suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her chest and as she watched the boy, she knew that this boy had seen so much more than a kid his age should.

"What a baby." Dudley murmered and walking toward the stairs he stepped over the young red headed boy and made his way up the stairs and into his own room.

For a few moments after that, the only sound in the room was Xander's ragged breathing and with this, all in the room knew that the boys adjusting would not be easy but in the end he would learn.


A/N' I Hope you loved it and please let me know what you think!