Chapter 2

Dear Petunia,

If you are getting this letter, it means that my husband James and I are dead. You are probably wondering why I didn't tell you about the twins (Charlus Henry and Dorea Elanor Potter) the way I told you about Harry. The only people James and I told about the twins were their godfather, Sirius Black, and the goblin who is writing this letter.

Shortly after Harry was born, Dumbledore told us that a prophecy said Harry could be the child who could kill Voldemort--that dark evil wizard I told you about--once and for all. A prophecy, that when delivered, was overheard by one of Voldemort's henchmen. A month later, one of our neighbors, Bathilda Bagshot, told James and I a strange story about Professor Dumbledore. Apparently long ago he was friends with the wizard that was responsible for Hitler's rise to power, a story Professor Dumbledore's own brother confirmed to us. Apparently Professor Dumbledore believes in doing things for the greater good and doesn't care one bit about who should be sacrificed. This got us worried about Harry.

After hearing that story, we were getting concerned that Dumbledore maybe trying to use Harry as a kind of weapon against Voldemort. We do not want him to do that to any of our children- which is why we didn't tell anyone about the twins.

At the time this letter its being written, James and I are preparing to go into hiding using a spell so that only one person, called a Secret Keeper, will able to tell others where we are hiding. Voldemort has made it clear that he interprets the prophecy to mean Harry. Voldemort and his henchmen are after our son meaning Harry is in grave danger. It may be years before Harry is truly safe from Voldemort and his henchmen because there are so many of them. If James and I are dead, it means that our Secret Keeper was captured and Voldemort and his henchmen have found our hiding place. Because of our lack of trust in Dumbledore, we told him, and everyone else we knew, our Secret Keeper was Sirius Black. However, Sirius is a decoy for Voldemort and his henchmen to chase all over the place. Our real Secret Keeper is Peter Pettigrew. If James and I are dead, everyone is going to think Sirius has defected and he is probably fighting like hell to prove he is innocent. Once his name is cleared, he has said he will pick up the kids from your house. If you feel you have waited long enough for him, post this letter to 147 Krillmeed Road Godric's Hallow, Devon.

Your sister Lily

Petunia Dursley read the letter again and thought how the week couldn't get any worse. First she found her dratted sister's son on her doorstep with a letter which said her sister and brother-in-law were dead. Her nephew Harry had every Death Eater looking for him and due to sacrificial magic, would only be safe if he lived with her. The only reason she didn't let Vernon take Harry to a random orphanage was because the magical protection Harry had been given would also keep her and Vernon safe. As part of the agreement, she and her husband decided to keep Harry from becoming a wizard. Now there were two more kids dumped on her which she couldn't get rid of. Vernon was going to be less happy than she was at the moment. She just hoped Vernon wouldn't kick her two nephews and niece out of the house and that Sirius Black would be sent to prison for a long time. She didn't want to take Harry to Sirius and chance him being hidden in yet another secret location and the Death Eaters showing up on her door step 'looking' for any information on Harry's whereabouts.

"WHAT!!!?" Vernon yelled when Petunia informed her husband about the twins and conveniently didn't tell him about Sirius. "Just what we need, more freaks that we can't get rid of! What does your sister's kind think our house is!? A place to dump unwanted children?! If just one more freak child shows up unannounced, Dead Beaters or not, they're all going to the orphanage!"

All Petunia could think was that her sister and brother-in-law had a lot of nerve to die and leave her three freaks, and to figure out how to keep them from doing magic. Her precious little Dudley was taking up enough of her time as it was.

Dumbledore was in his office. It had been two weeks since James and Lily died and it was now time to check to see if the wards he set up around the Dursleys' home were functioning properly. He had extended the ward area to include the nearest Muggle primary school but if the theories about how blood wards worked were correct, if Petunia did little for Harry other than feed and clothe him while in her care, they would retreat and cover a smaller area. Dumbledore wanted Harry to be happy but most importantly, he wanted Harry to be safe. Harry being both happy and safe would please Dumbledore very much.

Dumbledore's brother knew of the prophecy and kept accusing him of trying to get Neville and Harry's unconditional allegiance. That made him question his motives for being so 'grandfatherly' toward the two boys. In the end he decided his brother was just over-reacting and he genuinely cared about the two boys.

Dumbledore looked at the parchment that was charmed to show the strength of the wards and the area they covered. They not only continued to cover the same area but were stronger than he even thought was possible. They were impenetrable to any meaning harm unless they lived in the area that was covered by them or was someone Dumbledore trusted. He knew it was risky to allow so many people he didn't know to cross the wards freely but he didn't want the Muggles to get suspicious in case the wards malfunctioned and didn't let anyone in regardless of their intentions.

He continued looking at the parchment just thinking about how strong the wards were. They appeared to be strong enough that if there was witch or wizard trying to force their way into them, it would take them more than a day to get through if they continuously kept at it. He figured if someone did attempt to breach the wards they would be caught before any harm could be done as an alarm would go off in his office informing him of the attempt. The only real danger to Harry for the time being were Muggle adults living in the area but he doubted any would harm a child unless under the Imperious but the alarms would go off if anyone not acting on their own free will was in the area. Dumbledore ultimately decided not to inform his friend Arabella Figg who lived in the area that Harry was living nearby and ask if she could keep an eye out for any suspicious people that could be Death Eaters.

"Fawkes, it appears everything is working fine, better than fine in fact. I just hope my decision not to ask Arabella to keep an eye out for trouble doesn't lead to an uncontrollable disaster." Dumbledore was pleased as he said this to the phoenix that had taken a liking to him.

Harry felt things were not going right in the few months he had been with the Dursleys again. His aunt and uncle seemed more uncaring than he remembered. He, his brother and sister where fed only when Petunia felt like feeding them. Many messy nappies were not being changed quickly enough which distressed him greatly.

'Why can't they just love us?' Harry thought to himself about how he, his brother Charlus and sister Dorea were being treated while their cousin Dudley was being spoiled rotten like before. He hoped things didn't get any worse.

'But if I don't like it here, wouldn't the wards be too weak to keep me safe? If they are too weak, than why hasn't anyone rescued us?' Harry wondered. 'Maybe Dumbledore is too afraid of me becoming like Dudley if I leave... I want to get out of here!'

By the time Harry was five, he called his brother and sister Charlie and Rhea, which had been easier for him to say as he learned to talk again. He loved his brother and sister and figured that is why nobody had come to the rescue. The love he, his brother, and sister shared was keeping the wards strong. It also disturbed Harry that his aunt and uncle did not ever leave the three of them at Mrs. Figg's place. She may have been weird and obsessed with cats but she would know that Harry hated Petunia and Vernon and might tell Dumbledore about it... and probably would have mentioned Charlie and Rhea to Dumbledore as well. Harry was sure that, even if Dumbledore was worried about how Harry might be like Dudley, the Headmaster wouldn't let the twins be hurt for it.

A few days ago he didn't know how much longer the three of them would be able to fit in the cupboard under the stairs. It was getting too crowded but while frustrated over the lack of space, Harry accidentally made it large enough for them to continue to use it at least until he could start Hogwarts. Petunia and Vernon didn't like the accidental modification to the cupboard but didn't punish them because they didn't know where else to put three unwanted kids without taking away their precious Dudley's second bedroom or getting rid of the guest bedroom upstairs even though nobody had used it since Aunt Marge's visit a couple years earlier. Harry was scared what would happen if he had another bout of accidental magic.

Harry, Charlie and Rhea were currently on the living room floor playing with Dudley's discarded and broken toys. He didn't know about Charlie and Rhea but he was hungry. He kept quiet because if he spoke up about it, all three of them would be locked into the cupboard for complaining.

Just than, a tin of biscuits floated and landed on the floor where Harry, Charlie, and Rhea could all get at it.

"FOOD!" Rhea shouted as Harry opened the tin, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to eat something regardless of the consequences.

"VERNON! THE FREAKS USED THEIR FREAKY POWERS TO STEAL FOOD FROM DUDDERS!" Petunia yelled from another room. Harry quickly ate a biscuit after giving some to Charlie and Rhea not knowing if he would be able to finish it. Vernon came into the room looking angrier than Harry could ever remember seeing him.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL STEALING FREAKS!" Vernon yelled as he grabbed Harry and sat down on the couch with Harry face down across his lap. Harry had a bad feeling of what was going to happen next. Vernon hit Harry on the bottom really hard. What Harry feared had come true. Things had taken a turn for the worse. Harry screamed.

Things were unfolding more or less how Ginny remembered it. She didn't remember Fred and George getting mad at Percy and accidentally turning him into a bright red lizard for telling their mother they'd put bugs in Ron's bed. The only accidental transfiguration one of her twin brothers caused that she remembered was them turning Ron's teddy bear into a spider the twice the size of a dinner plate. Since that happened, she figured that Percy spending some time as a lizard also happened but she forgot about it since she never really cared about Percy.

Ginny was too scared of the consequences of changing the one thing that she was so tempted to do: expose Percy's pet rat as Peter Pettigrew in disguise. The only reason she didn't want to do it was because of Harry.

Pettigrew was an important part of Voldemort's return in June 1995. He was the one who used Harry's blood to return Voldemort to a proper body. Using that blood allowed Harry to survive being hit by the killing curse for the second time. She just couldn't live with herself if she prevented that from happening. She knew Harry had a rotten childhood growing up with the Dursleys but changing that was not worth Harry committing suicide just so Voldemort would be able to die. She loved Harry and would never let him kill himself.

Ginny took another bite of her bacon sandwich while her father read the Daily Prophet. The date of 31 July 1986 was clearly visible on the back of the newspaper. Knowing it was Harry's birthday once again and that his aunt and uncle wouldn't even acknowledge it upset Ginny. Everyone at least deserved to be told "Happy Birthday" on their birthday.

"This has to be one of the biggest breaches of Ministry security since the war..." Arthur muttered.

"What is going on?" Molly asked.

"Someone wrote an article about Harry Potter and a prophecy stored in the Department of Mysteries. Everyone knows one of the things Unspeakables study are prophecies but policy is that they never talk about any of their work," Arthur replied.

"What's this about Harry Potter and a prophecy?" Ginny's brother Bill asked.

"This article says that there's a prophecy about Harry Potter and You-Know-Who that may, or may not, have been fulfilled. The prophecy could be interpreted as Harry Potter being the next dark wizard," Arthur replied, a little disturbed.

"But he got rid of You-Know-Who. How bad can he be?" Charlie asked.

"Grindelwald killed another dark wizard, Igor the Foul if I recall, about ten years before he took over Germany. The enemy of your enemy is not always your friend," Arthur replied making everyone at the table nervous. Ginny never remembered a conversation at the breakfast table like the one that was happening now. Was it something she forgot had happened? Or was there another time traveler? Or had the prophecy been overheard by someone other than Severus Snape? For the time being, she decided to just let it be.

Dumbledore looked over the article again for any clue as to who wrote it. It was unusual, but not unheard of, for the Daily Prophet not to reveal who wrote an article. He ruled out his brother and Severus as to having something to do with the article earlier that morning after asking them about it. 'Could there have been another person who overheard the prophecy?' Dumbledore wondered. He wanted to find out who wrote the article and how they heard about the prophecy.

Though the article made him wonder about something else at the same time. Would Harry be the next dark wizard to terrorize the Wizarding World? He didn't want to believe it but the article raised some valid points. Prophecies could be interpreted in many different ways and there was no know way what the correct interpretation was until it was fulfilled. That and there was nothing in the prophecy that said Harry wasn't going to go down the same path as Voldemort. He got up from his desk and went to the ward monitors.

'The wards are just as strong as they ever were... That could be if he feels loved and welcomed...' Dumbledore thought to himself. 'Did I make the right choice by not asking Arabella to keep an eye out in the area? The wards are too strong for even the Ministry to see what kind of magic is going on in the area...'

He concluded it was too soon to tell if Harry was going dark. He decided to wait until Harry was eleven and see who the boy's friends were and what his interests were. He didn't want to interfere with Harry's personal life unless there was a valid reason. Dumbledore just knew James and Lily wouldn't forgive him if he stood by and allowed Harry to go dark.

Being six years old again, Harry felt so frustrated as he was sitting in the cupboard, with Rhea and Charlie taking a nap to his left, where he could protect them should Vernon open the cupboard and punish them for something that wasn't even their fault. He was still a little sore from when Vernon accused him of an outbreak of the common cold at Vernon's company that made drills.

Two years earlier, the abuse the three Potters suffered had turned physical. A year ago, the Muggles took notice, something they never did the first time around. They simply accepted the stories the Dursleys had given about how Harry was a problem child and Dudley was perfect. Now, they saw the Dursleys for what they were: lying child abusers.

Not only that, but the Muggle authorities got involved. Unfortunately, every "rescue attempt" was a blunder. The authorities, wishing bad things to happen to the Dursleys, simply could not get past the wards. Their cars would break down. They would break their legs and/or arms. In one case, the people who had been sent completely forgot why they were in the area. It was getting the Muggles in the area wondering what exactly was going on, and such a breach of the Statute of Secrecy. Harry wondered why the Ministry wasn't getting involved.

What really got Harry mad was what happened just a week before school ended. As part of a plan to rescue the three Potter kids, they were kept at school when all the other students left. Harry was convinced that they would escape the Dursleys forever. The plan was working up until Social Services, to the horror of the entire neighborhood, stated there was no child abuse going on. Harry was half convinced Minister Fudge was running Muggle Social Services after that.

Harry considered running away with his brother and sister, but they didn't have any money and if the Muggles found them first, they were sure to be sent right back to the Dursleys due to the stupid Social Services and their infuriating claims that no child abuse was going on. Even if the wards collapsed, there was absolutely no guarantee that anyone from the Wizarding World would get to them before they had face the Dursleys' wrath for running away. Harry learned from Dumbledore's portrait that he had a tracking charm on him that was tied to the wards so his location could be only known to someone in Dumbledore's office. As long as the wards were up, Dumbledore would be able to locate Harry should Harry need immediate medical attention, was kidnapped, or simply got lost. If the wards collapsed, Dumbledore wouldn't be able to find Harry.

Harry had considered going to Mrs. Figg, knowing she lived in the area for some time before the Dursleys moved to 4 Privet Drive. Unfortunately, Mrs. Figg had moved away a few days earlier. According to the neighbors, people weren't buying her cats like they used to and she had had problems paying her bills. Harry realized that in the old timeline, a few months earlier, Mrs. Figg started babysitting him. Without her babysitting him, she apparently couldn't make ends meet making Harry wonder how much money the Dursleys had paid her.

Harry just wished he had enough control over his magic to at least make a Portkey. At the moment, he was lucky any magic he deliberately did in private behaved the way it was supposed to.

'Why does trouble always find me?' Harry wondered as he felt a tear go down his cheek.

Chapter End Notes:

Harry's in a mess. Dealing with Dursleys that are worse than he remembers is getting to him. As for who wrote that article mentioned in this chapter, you'll get to see it later on in the story and find out who wrote it. Those who I've told, please don't tell anyone! As for what is up with Social Services, you'll learn why they are acting the way they are later.

Also, I like to thank Kezzabear for looking over this chapter for me.

Anyways, reviews!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.