Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related.

Chapter 1

Early Years

Early years for Harry Potter turned out differently than they were supposed to. The first few years went by quietly with very little to report on, except maybe a memorable occasion or two. One such was changing little Harrys name. So now instead of being Harry Potter, son of James and Lily Potter, he was Harry Evans, son of Nathaniel and Emily Evans. You could even say that life for little Harry was perfect. But that isn't to say that papa Evans didn't want to change his entire name, oh no, he didn't want his son to have his father's name since he never got along with the man. But he pretended that, since old judge Grey's name was Harry, that was who little Harry has been named after.

The home of one judge Evans changed with little Harry's arrival that faithful night. As far as the occupants of Number 7 Privet Drive were concerned, it was for the better. As far as meddlesome old men were concerned it would have been terrible, had they known, of course. But alas, the Wizarding World isn't that big on logic and they assume a little bit too much… well, that's understating it, they assume, a lot and they aren't big on logic… just so we're clear.

Little Harry remembers, or has nightmares about a certain incident that involves a green light, a woman's scream and evil high pitched laughter. Other than that his life was filled with love, laughter and joy; all of that would have been foreign to him had he stayed with Aunt Petunia. As far as everyone is concerned Harry is the biological son of the Evans couple, only they know the truth of that night and if Nathaniel Evans has something to say about it, it will stay that way.

Now, little Harry simply adores his family; he wouldn't want to change it for anything in the world. He loves making his mother laugh; he respects his father and tries to make him proud, he looks up to his big brother Victor, and simply adores his baby brother Lucian. It was about two years, when Harry was three, that Lucian was born. Harry was probably the happiest in the household.

He grew normally and as all little boys his age had quite a few adventures or misadventures as his mother would point out. One such was when little Harry was four, the entire family went out on a picnic near a lake and Harry saw other children and his big brother swimming around like it was nothing and jumped in with them, in the deeper part of the lake, and started drowning, or he would have if his father hadn't taken him out of the lake. He gave his parents quite a scare and his mother wouldn't let him out of her site for the next three months. But, his father promised to teach him to swim, and teach him he did. There was another one when he tried to climb a fairly tall tree in a park near their house and fell down and broke his arm. Or how about the one with the dog Uncle Vernon's sister always brings with her to visit? Well, you get the idea. Harry thinks he has bad luck; his mother thinks he's a trouble magnet and shouldn't leave her sight at all. But, she could never say no to the look her boys give her.

Those adventures of little boys were fairly normal for a child his age. It was school, however, that changed the life of our little hero. As you can see, he started school with his cousin Dudley Dursley. Dudley, as overweight as he was and not very smart, was a bully. He even had his own gang who would hold other the arms of other kids while Dudley hit them. None of that happened where Judge Evans could see because Dudley feared the as much as his father did, if not more. Now, back to Harry, it was while they were at school when Dudley thought it smart to chase Harry to punch. During the chase, Harry got scared and wished really hard to be somewhere else and, an unpleasant sensation later, he found himself on the school roof; he was seven at the time. There was also a time when he changed his teachers wig blue. In his defense she was being particularly unfair to him. And there was that time at the zoo… Those were just a few incidents that happened during the year and it was thanks to them that he learned about another world.

School had let out for the year and it was a beginning of a beautiful summer. Harry was going home with his baby brother and they were both excited to see Victor come home from Eaton College so they could spend some time together pulling pranks and being a nuisances to their visiting grandfather, old judge Grey, they simply couldn't resist the temptation. Once they got home they didn't wait long for them to arrive, but Harry was pulled aside by his parents when Lucian went to play in his room.

"Harry, dear, can we talk?" Emily asked the little boy who was so engrossed in his book, pranks no doubt.

Harry nodded, "Yes, what's wrong?" he asked after seeing his mother shift.

"It's about something important. Come on, we'll take this to my office." His father said.

They made their way to the only room in the house no one was supposed to go in. The boys even thought that their mother couldn't go in there, but it was never confirmed or denied. The office wasn't something extravagant, it was simple. Bookshelves lined the walls, a desk was clustered with papers, there was one chair behind the desk and two in front, and there was a small leather couch across from a small table that had a tea set on it.

They were acting strangely, Harry noted. His father was running a hand through his hair and his mother was clutching a fist at her side. That was definitely strange behavior for his parents. Eventually his father turned a chair to face the couch and sat on it. His mother took his hand and led him to the couch where she sat both of them down.

"What's going on? You're acting really strange…" he asked and before they could even open their mouths to say anything his eyes widened comically and he demanded to know, "Who are you and what have you done to my parents? If you don't tell me I'll… I'll… I'll let Lucien get you!" confusion at the end had the adults laughing. That seemed to lighten the atmosphere, somewhat.

"We wanted to talk to you about all those strange things that keep happening around you." Said his mother.

"It wasn't my fault, whatever happened I didn't do it!" he was quick to defend himself.

"We know. Will you let us finish?" said his father wryly.

Harry grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry." He murmured softly.

"There is no easy way to say this so I'll just come out and say it." After receiving a prompting nod from Harry, Nathaniel continued, "Harry, you're a wizard." And it was those words that left Harry stumped.

"I'm sorry, what?" exclaimed a very confused Harry, "This isn't funny, you know." He said this close to tears.

"No, sweetie, that's not what we meant." Consoled Emily right away and giving her husband an ugly look for good measure, "What we meant was that there is such thing as magic, it's very real." At the watery eyes of one of her boys Emily rushed to finish, "Have you ever wondered how you strange things happened around you when you were angry, excited or scared?" he slowly nodded, unsure.

"That is magic, your magic. They call it accidental. At least that's what professor McGonagall said when she came to introduce my sister to the Wizarding World." Finished his father while his mother tried to comfort him.

"Your sister? Aunt Petunia? No, I don't want to be a wizard then!" Yelled a very scared Harry and his father had laughed at him, he laughed! How dare he!

"No, not Petunia. Lily, she was the magical one." His father corrected him at once.

"Oh…" he understood now why he laughed, "How come you never talked about her before?" asked Harry slowly and childishly.

Nathaniel winced and Emily just hugged him tighter.

"It's a sore subject for me. She passed away seven years ago." Harry nodded at that, he wouldn't have liked to talk about it if his brothers were gone. But, he wouldn't let that happen, he would protect them. Yup, that's what he'll do.

"I guess I should tell you everything, huh?" it was a rhetorical question. He recognized it but looked on curiously, "I'll tell you everything when that letter arrives. You're supposed to be eleven to attend Hogwarts, so we'll wait until then." That was the end of that, no room for argument.

His brother and grandfather came together and the boys annoyed the old man as much as they could without being cruel. When the old man left Harry told his brothers what their parents told him. They, for some strange reason accepted it and their lives were normal once more. Although, the boys tried to see if they could control Harry's magic before then.

That summer and every one after that, Christmas Holidays, weekends to follow drew the boys closer than ever before. They were always smart boys, clever and cunning, loyal to each other and very brave, much like the qualities that were used to sort someone in a house. However the boys had those qualities in abundance and those qualities were all equal in all of the boys. Their father told them all he knew about the Wizarding World, which wasn't much, but what they did find out was that they were so stuck in their traditions that they won't allow for any kind of change. The boys were planning to overthrow the ministry. Well they were planning for Victor to become the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and for Harry to become the Minister for Magic; Lucien could choose between becoming a minister of something or a judge like their father.

The family enjoyed their time and treasured when they were together. Those memories will forever be treasured by them, Harry most of all. And now this story, a very short show of Harry's life before the letter came is coming to an end.

It was a very warm summer. A month before Harry's eleventh birthday brought a very strange visitor ad their lives were changed again. For better or for worse, Harry was going to Hogwarts.