Author's Note:
So I've decided that the timeline that I'll be using for this AU fic will be Book 5: Order of the Phoenix.
Thanks for the review guys! Keep 'em coming and maybe it'll boost my motivation into uploading another chapter. *wink* *wink*
CHAPTER 2
Several members of the Order of the Phoenix were gathered around the Potter Manor. The manor was crowded today, especially with the whole clan of Weasleys around. Most of the members of the Order and their children was present at the Manor.
Currently all the members of the Order are inside the large office of the head of the house, James Potter. The room was filled with raised arguments as to what needed to be done in order to win the waging war against Voldemort.
"This is preposterous, we could summon someone or something even more dangerous than He Who Must Not Be Named himself!" someone shouted.
"We are coming very close to losing this war. We are outnumbered by Death Eaters! We need to do what needs to be done!" another voice argued back.
"This is outrageous! You can't possibly think that this is right!" a voice yelled.
Several arguments filled the air about what was right and wrong, it was chaos inside the room.
"Alright, alright. Let's all calm down everyone!" James yelled.
"Please, let's just settle down, we can all argue about this in proper manner." shouted Lily.
But no one listened, everybody kept arguing.
"SILEEEEEEENCE!" Dumbledore bellowed at them. Everyone shut their mouth in an instant and looked at him. He stared at them with a heavy look.
"You are all adults. Please act like one. You are no longer children like the ones listening right outside those doors!" Dumbledore pointed his wand at the door.
With a flick of his wand, the doors behind them opened. All the children outside was frozen on the spot with a frightened look on their faces. The parents at the room yelled their child's name in admonishment, with Molly's being the loudest.
"FRED! GEORGE! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THOSE BLASTED EXTENDABLE EARS?!" pointing at the Ears both of the twins were currently holding. "What have I told you lot! You are not supposed to use them! Especially during an Order meeting!" she took the ears from the twins despite their protests.
"Well, I think it's quite impressive." Sirius smirked at them.
Molly gave Sirius a glare.
"Not now, Sirius" both Lily and Remus berated him at the same time.
Sirius held up both of his hands in surrender, and then sent a wink towards the twins when Molly turned around.
Remus shook his head at his friend's antics while Lily just rolled her eyes at Sirius. He gave both of them a cheeky smile and sat down on the sofa.
"And I am disappointed in all of you" Molly pointed at all the children in the hallway. "What have I and your parents told you? No more eavesdropping on the meeting! You are all children! You aren't supposed to hear the things we talk about during the meeting." Molly gave all of them a severe look.
"We're seventeen, mum! We're no longer children." argued Fred.
"Be it as it may, you are still too young to hear these things." Molly argued back.
"We're of age, mum!" Fred and George bellowed together.
"NO!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, her eyes overbright. "I absolutely forbid —"
"Molly, you can't stop Fred and George," said Mr. Weasley wearily. "Maybe it's time we let them in the Order meetings. They are of age —"
"They're still at school —"
"But they're legally adults now," said Mr. Weasley in the same tired voice.
Mrs. Weasley was now scarlet in the face.
"I — oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron and Ginny —"
"Mum! We want to stay too!" wailed Ginny.
"If Fred and George can stay, why can't we?" Ron whined.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! Both of you are not of age!" Molly yelled, "Now go to your rooms! No complaints! Now!" Molly glared both at her youngest children and pointed towards upstairs.
Both Weasleys did not leave quietly. They could hear Ginny raging all the way upstairs and Ron's stomping feet.
Lily turned to both of her children and said "Violet! Ethan! I told you several times to quit eavesdropping!" Lily gave them a severe look and said, "Both of you are grounded and no more Quidditch!"
"But mum! I —" Violet started to say.
"That's not fair! You never grounded Harry when he's in trouble!" Ethan protested.
Everyone in the room was silenced, while both Lily and Violet gasped.
Realization hit Ethan's face at what he had said, horrified, he said in a low voice, "I –I'm sorry, mum. I didn't mean to bring Harry up." Lily stilled when Ethan mentioned his name once more.
James sighed tiredly and went to her wife's side. He wrapped an arm around her and said "It's alright, son. We know you didn't mean it. Both of you go upstairs and check on your younger sister, we will talk about this later". He gave them a pointed look.
With that, both of the Potter children left and went upstairs.
"Wendy!" James called.
"Yes, master James?" asked the house elf dressed in a neat pillowcase with a Potter emblem in the centre.
"Go check on Violet and Ethan, make sure that no children will go downstairs. Especially those two." James said.
"Yes, master James." The house elf bowed and disappeared with a pop.
James pulled her to the side and turned to face Lily. With a concerned look, he asked "You alright, Lils?" Lily nodded and gave him a small smile, "I'm fine, James. I was just –"
"You can tell me truth, Lily." James cut her off. "If you're no longer feeling up for it you can rest in our bedroom, I'll handle this." Lily shook her head and said, "James, I'm fine. I swear. Just because it took me a month to function properly after Harry's death, does not mean that I'll spiral every time someone mentions his name." Lily and James stared at each other.
With a heavy sigh he said, "I know you're strong, Lily. But you don't have to be strong all the time, especially with Harry's passing happening just a few months before. You don't have to show a brave face and fight through it if you can't. Everyone in the Order will understand".
Lily gave him a hollow laugh, "Is that what you think I've been doing, James? Our boy got killed. He was taken from us by those bastards! He's supposed to be a fifth year by now and getting ready to go to Hogwarts. But no, he's six feet under! And crying in his room all day will do nothing to change that fact!" she cried. "I would rather go to hell than mope around any longer about his death instead of doing something to avenge him!" Her eyes blazing with fury.
James looked down and sighed, "I'm sorry, Lily. It's just– it's hard for me too, you know? I just can't help thinking about how I'm responsible for all of this. I should've been there for him, Lils. If I was, then maybe we wouldn't be going through all this pain. "
Lily's eyes immediately softened and held his hand, "Don't do this to yourself, James. It was not your fault. And I've come to accept that it was not mine. No one blames you for Harry's death. Those arseholes took Harry from us, not you." Lily gave her husband a hug.
In the distance they could Neville arguing with other members of the Order. Lily tugged at his husband's hand. "Come on, James. Let's talk some sense into our godson" James smiled at her and let her lead the way to Neville.
"With all due respect Mrs. Weasley, I think I have more than a right to be in this meeting. I've faced Voldemort himself on several occasion and survived!" Neville hotly.
"And no one is denying that fact, dear. You shouldn't have to face him at your age!" Molly's voice rising slightly.
Lily sighed. "Neville, we know how you fought that snake faced bastard several times and escaped relatively unscathed. But how do you expect us to face your parents knowing that we let you face Voldemort willingly?"
She went to Neville and placed her both of her hands on his shoulders and said, "You are our godson. We are supposed to protect you. Let us protect you". A tear single tear escaped her eyes as she said in a low voice, "I will not lose you like I lost my Harry". With that she turned around and went to her husband.
James gave her a comforting squeeze and said, "This is our duty, Neville. You are like another son to us, you know that. We won't allow you to go charging at Voldemort by yourself like you did several times" James gave him a pointed look.
"I'm not asking to go join the fight! I just want to know what is going on." He cried. Neville hung his head in defeat and whispered, "I just want to help. He killed my parents. I want to do something to help stop him".
Molly's eyes softened and placed a hand on Neville's. "We know that, dear. But you shouldn't be involved in any of this." She gave Neville's cheek a soft pat. "All of you are still too young for this. Let us adults handle this" Molly gave him a look.
"Now off you get, I'll come get all of you when we're done with the meeting and it's almost time for dinner" Molly made a shooing motion with her hands and then Neville went towards Hermione who was still standing in the doorway. Both of them left with a defeated look.
"Now that that is out of the way, I think we should all proceed with the meeting." Dumbledore announced.
Both of the Potter children were inside the Rosa's nursery. Grumbling about how life is unfair. "Why did you have to bring him up, Ethan? You know how mum gets whenever he's mentioned" Violet gave his twin brother an annoyed look.
Ethan held up his hands and said, "It slipped out, I swear. I didn't mean to upset mum, okay? It's just so unfair how we always get grounded for a little trouble but when Harry used to get in trouble all the time, mum and dad almost always lets him off the hook".
Violet sighed. She checked at the crib and saw that Rosa was sleeping peacefully. "I understand that, Ethan. But you need to be more careful when it comes to Harry. He may be a bullying jerk who was never a brother to us, but mum and dad loved him. And his death still hurts the both of them."
"I know. I know. If only he was a better older brother to us, then maybe we could understand how mum and dad feels like. Then maybe, we could help ease their pain, you know?" Ethan said.
Violet sighed deeply. "Come on. Rosa's still sleeping." She headed towards the door and said, "Let's go. I can hear the Weasleys on the other side of the room from here".
Both Potter children headed towards the guest bedroom that Ron and the Weasley twins share. Violet knocked on the door and entered the room.
"So our plan was a bust." Ethan grumbled and sat down on the floor.
"Yeah." Ron replied.
"Mum and dad let Fred and George attend the meeting though! That's so unfair!" Ginny said hotly. She threw the pillow she was holding towards the bed.
The door opened and both Neville and Hermione went inside the room, both of them sat in front of Ethan and Violet. "Hey guys" Neville greeted, still looking defeated.
"So Mr. and Mrs. Potter didn't let you off the hook to, huh?" Ron asked.
"I just don't get why they won't let us join the meetings!" Neville whined. "It's not like we're asking them to let us join the field missions!"
"Don't Neville. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are just worried about you." Hermione said.
"Yeah. You know how mum gets. She's almost as bad as Mrs. Weasley when she's worried." Violet said, trying to comfort Neville.
Both Ron and Ginny snorted at that.
"Don't look so down, mate." Ethan said. "Mum and dad are just overprotective right now because of Harr–", Violet shot his brother a glare. "Well, you know." Ethan finished lamely.
Neville just looked down, feeling guilty. It was as if he was suddenly sucked back into his own world. All of them shared uncertain looks.
Neville was just like Lily Potter, while Lily looked close to breaking down whenever someone utters Harry's name, Neville looked guilty and downtrodden.
He blamed himself entirely for Harry's death. Even though everyone knew that it was Harry's recklessness and arrogance that killed him, Neville kept blaming himself. Especially whenever he sees how broken both of Harry's parents look like.
Harry Potter died during the Triwizard Tournament. Potter wasn't one of the champions that got chosen. He accepted it though since he knew that he wasn't of age. But that didn't stop him from whining to anyone else who would bother to listen to him, that or his fanclub who adores him for some reason. He went on a rage though, when Neville was chosen as a fourth champion. Claiming that Neville was an attention-seeking prat who wants to claim all the glory for himself. So Harry Potter recklessly followed Neville through the maze in the final task in an attempt to steal the glory from Neville. He got transported with Neville in the Little Hangleton grave.
Neville could remember how he died, clear as day. How could he not? He dreams of it almost every night.
FLASHBACK
Neville felt his feet slam on the ground; his injured leg gave away, and he fell forward; his hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. He raised his head. He could see Harry dusting off the grass off his pants.
"Where are we?" asked Harry uncertainly. The usual arrogance from his voice gone.
He stood up and looked around. "We're completely out of Hogwarts grounds. We must be hundreds or maybe thousands of miles away." He replied.
They were standing in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Neville could see the outline of a fine old house on the hillside.
"Did they tell you that this stupid cup was a portkey?" Potter asked.
"No," He answered, "Do you reckon this is part of the task?"
"How should I know, Longbottom?" Potter sneered.
Neville rolled his eyes and looked around the graveyard. It was completely silent and slightly eerie. "We should put our wands out, just to be sure." Neville said.
"Don't tell me what to do, Longbottom!" Potter said coolly.
Neville ignored him.
He pulled out his own wand and could see that Potter did the same. Neville kept looking around him. He couldn't shake the feeling as if they were being watched. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
"I feel like someone's watching us." Potter muttered nervously.
Neville nodded his head and said, "Yeah, me too."
This was the longest time they've been together that they haven't been at each other's throat. Whenever they were in the same room together, Potter would always insult him to his face. He fought back of course. But whenever he was in the Potter Manor with his godparents, Neville held his tongue. He didn't try to insult Potter in front of his parents out of respect for them. Potter's parents would berate him of course, but he would be back in their good graces a minute later.
"Stop. I can hear someone coming." He heard Potter say suddenly.
Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. Neville couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, he could tell it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to cover his face. As they drew nearer, he could see that the person was carrying… is that a baby? Or was it merely a bundle of robes?
Neville lowered his wand slightly and glanced beside him. Potter shot him a quizzical look. They both turned to watch the approaching figure.
It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second, both Neville and Potter and the short figure simply looked at one another.
And then without warning, Neville's scar exploded with pain. It was agony such as he had never felt in all his life; his wand slipped from his fingers as he put his hands over his face; his knees buckled; he was on the ground and he could see nothing at all; he felt as if his head was about to be split open. He could hear himself scream.
"Longbottom! What's the matter with you?!" He could hear Potter's voice panicking. "Are you alright?!"
He would chuckle if he wasn't in unbearable pain right now. Imagine that, Potter is panicking for his well-being.
From far away, above his head, he heard a high cold voice say, "Kill the spare."
A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words, "Avada Kedavra!"
A blast of green light blazed through Neville's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to the ground beside him; the pain in his scar reached such a pitch that he retched, and then it diminished; terrified of what he was about to see, he opened his stinging eyes, expecting to see Potter lying dead on the floor.
But he wasn't.
"Bloody hell!" Harry yelled. He felt Potter trying to lift him off the ground. "Hurry up, Longbottom! This bloody nutter is trying to kill us!"
With great effort, he pulled himself up and tried to ran; his arm around Potter's shoulder. Potter was carrying most of his weight as they ducked behind a rock.
"Stupefy!" Potter aimed at the hooded figure. The short figure ducked at the right moment, the spell missing him just a few inches.
"Kill the spare, you fool! Or I will end you!" he heard the cold voice say.
"Yes, master" they both heard the voice reply. They could hear him approaching.
"Who the bloody hell is this guy?" Potter asked in a panicked voice. His chest heaving.
"Voldemort. He's here." he answered.
Potter stared at him. His face white in shock. "Are you sure?" He asked, his voice shaking. He nodded in reply, his head still feeling as if it was about to be cracked open. Potter gulped.
Potter aimed another spell towards the figure, "Reducto!" The spell landed in front of the ground the figure was walking on. The figure was blasted back by the impact. His hood fell.
Both of them stood behind the rock and looked at the figure rising to his feet, their wands trained on him.
Neville was struggling to keep his eyes and wand trained on the figure. His head was pounding in pain.
"Wormtail, you worthless fool!"
"Wormtail?" Neville muttered and glanced beside Potter, it sounded familiar; he couldn't recall where he had heard it.
Potter did, apparently. "You!" Potter gasped.
"You betrayed my parents! You arsehole!" Potter said with fury.
The figure didn't reply, however. He just sent a jet of green light towards Potter. It was as if time slowed down. He could see the spell going towards Potter.
Potter didn't have enough time to duck, and was hit squarely in the stomach.
He could only stare at Potter, lying spread-eagled on the floor beside him. His face frozen in shock, eyes staring blankly.
He's dead.
He's dead.
He's dead.
That was the thought that kept running through his mind as he stared at Potter's face in shock, he looked at Potter's expressionless eyes, his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised.
And then, before Neville's mind accepted what he was seeing, before he could feel anything but numb disbelief, everything went black.
END OF FLASHBACK
"I'm gonna head to my room, guys." Neville stood up abruptly and head towards the door. Neville left the room.
Violet sent a slap at the back of Ethan's head.
"OW!" Ethan yelped, "What was that for?!"
"You know what it was for." Violet answered with a glare.
"Yeah, mate. Nice going." Ron said.
"Oh don't you start. You're about as tactless as he is." Hermione said.
"HEY!" Ethan and Ron protested at the same time.
"I'm gonna go after him. You coming, Violet?" Hermione asked, looking questioningly at Violet.
Violet stood up and went outside the room with Hermione.
Hermione knocked on Neville's bedroom door.
"Neville? Can we come in?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. Come on in" They heard him answer.
Both of them went inside and saw that Neville was sitting on his bed, looking miserable. Violet went to sit beside him, while Hermione looked around his room.
"You do know it's not your fault, right? We've told you that a hundred times." Violet said softly. "Mum and dad doesn't blame you for his death, nor do Ethan and I" Violet squeezed his shoulder in comfort.
Hermione looked towards them and said sadly, "Neville, you need to stop beating yourself up over it".
"I know it wasn't my fault, okay?" Neville lied unconvincingly.
"If you don't stop acting like this, I'm going to sic mum on you". Violet said, her voice laced with a threat. Neville looked up at her, his eyes startled in panic.
"Are you mental? She'll go crazy on me, saying how I shouldn't blame myself for–"
"Exactly" Violet said, her eyes gleaming.
"But it is my fault, Violet." Neville said miserably. "We've been over this a hundred times, Neville! You are not to blame for Potter's death. No one blames you for it!" Hermione said exasperatedly.
"Did you tell my idiot brother to go after you?"
"No." He answered. "But–"
"Did you drag him to the graveyard and tell him to get himself killed by Voldemort?"
"No, but he–"
"Did you cast the killing curse on him?" Violet asked him, her eyes piercing.
"No! Of course not! I–"
"Then how exactly is it your fault? Huh? Tell us how it was you're responsible for the death of my idiotic and reckless brother". Violet asked hotly.
"He was– Voldemort was after me, not Potter." Neville said, his voice trembling.
Hermione stood in front of him. "That does not make you responsible for his death, Neville". She took his hand in hers and said, "You did not kill Potter. Voldemort did. Not you. So you need to stop this."
"But I–" He started to say, but saw both Hermione and Violet glaring at him.
"Alright! Alright! I'll stop." Neville looked at his watch, "Let's just go down, I think Mrs. Weasley is almost done with cooking dinner".
Neville headed towards the door. Hermione and Violet shared a look, both knowing that Neville wasn't completely convinced that it was not his fault.
With that, the both of them followed Neville out of the room.
A/N:
So, in this AU, Harry has younger siblings, twins and a baby sister.
Ethan John : 14 years old, 4th yr.
Violet : 12 years old, 2nd yr.
(Both are twins)
And lastly, baby Rosa, who is just a few months old.
Do you guys think that Sirius has a family in this AU? If so, how many children and who do you guys wanna see him with?
In this AU, Au!Harry is an arrogant toerag, just like his dad during his childhood years.
By the way, just a heads up. I won't be following the timeline completely okay? (For example, in this au, Remus and Tonks are already together) I just think that the events shouldn't be completely be the same, since circumstances are quite different for both universe. Oh and the Harry in my fic will be OOC.
Next chapter will be about the Order doing the ritual and Harry waking up in the AU.
Don't forget to review! I'd like to hear your opinions or suggestions. Thanks!