Disclaimer: Harry potter is still the property of JK Rowling not me. Consider yourselves disclaimed

A/N

This will be the only time journal format is used for this story. I simply used it as it was the easiest way to skip forward 10 years.

Also, please note that I have changed the rating to T from K+ due to some mild language. In the future I may change it to M if I decide to put in pairings, but I'll be sure to note it in advance.

Please note that the canon dates used in the HP books have been moved forward 10 years for the story.

My updates may become a little irregular after this, as a new semester of Uni is starting this week.

That's all I have to say. Enjoy!

From the Journal of Silvanus Julianus Aurelius

November 2nd 1991

We arrived in Peru this morning; got to hand it to the goblins, they get things done quickly. In my 24 hours on the job I've been assigned to an excavation in the Peruvian Amazon; then promoted to head translator immediately upon my arrival. The locals believe that the position is cursed; the last guy had a run in with a lethifold. I should brush up on my Patronus charm while I'm here.

They've already set us up with a small yet furnished 2 bedroom house near the site. It has all the amenities I need including a small storage room that doubles as a library, and a reasonably sized shed out back that also serves as a potions lab. I also have a house elf to watch the kid while I'm on site; Tiffy or Spiffy I think her name is, or maybe it's Jiffy... I don't know I just call it elf.

She seems to know what she's doing with him; when to change and feed him. I really didn't want to leave the kid to be raised by an elf, but until I get the hang of this child rearing thing I'll just have to make do.

The kid seems to like her at least; they spent the day playing together. He still hasn't spoken yet, or made any other sound for that matter. The healers say he's fine and to give it time, frankly it's starting to creep me out a little.

The Goblins also set us up a blood adoption ritual; more to help conceal him than anything else. The results were only some minor cosmetic changes to his facial structure; but the kid's still young, and the only recognisable traits of an Aurelius are long black hair and being taller than average.

Another consequence of the ritual is that the kids name will appear under my own on the Aurelius family tapestry. I can just imagine the look on mothers face when she sees the name Justin Silvanus Aurelius appear under mine with no mention of a mother in sight; that alone should help me with my patronus. I guess I'm still a little bitter over the whole 'death eater' thing.

November 24th 1991

I was interrupted at work today by my frantic house elf; it seems that a powerful magical force pushed her off the property and was keeping her from getting back in. She didn't have the kid with her so I immediately started to panic. Than combined with the elves' hysteric wailing drew a crowd from the curse breakers on site. I immediately apperated home and ran inside and up to his room.

The kid was sitting in the middle of the room, playing with the stuffed wolf toy he'd become so attached to; unaware of all the excitement around him.

I let out a relived breath as the panic drifted away; which began turning to annoyance and even anger towards that damn elf for making me worry so much. I turned around to yell at the wretched little thing, only to find that it wasn't there. I went to go give the elf a piece of my mind, taking the kid with me as I left; I wasn't quite ready to let him out of my sight just yet.

I found the elf, half a dozen curse breakers and Biletooth, the goblin site overseer, standing outside a curtain of magical energy surrounding the house; trying in vain to get through.

It seems that when I rushed of in such a hurry, some of my workmates decided to follow me to make sure everything was alright. That in turn led the overseer to follow, in order to find out why work was being delayed.

We all began examining the phenomenon, and were surprised to say the least at the results.

The barrier was in fact an extraordinarily complex and powerful blood based ward; constructed to prevent access to any magical being not connected by blood or keyed into it. More surprising was the fact that the ward was not anchored to the house itself, but was connected to the kid.

After much speculation amongst the group, who were at least partially aware of the situation with the kid; it was determined that on the night Dumbledore left the kid at his horrid aunts house he placed one half of a very powerful protection on the boy, the other half was probably placed on his brother. Basically the magic would protect him and his blood relatives so long as they lived together; It would draw strength from the emotional connection his brother shared with his family, i.e., the Potters. Conversely Michael Potter's protection would be powered by the connection between me and the boy; considering the adoption ritual made us blood relatives. The magic activated when the boy started to consider this place his home. Once that was figured out I was able to key in the elf and the others, and that was that.

Biletooth wants me to start bringing the kid to the site so he can exploit the protection to increase the security of the excavation. Tomb raiders have always been a problem; sneaking in and stealing priceless artefacts after the team has taken down the wards and traps guarding them. If the protection carries over, then the place would be virtually inaccessible without my knowledge.

Despite the rather dubious intent of the request, I cannot think of a good reason to refuse. The kid should really have more human interaction then just me. Plus the elf would be there to keep him out from underfoot and make sure he didn't get into anything dangerous. It would also allow me to keep an eye on the kid during the day, make sure he stays out of trouble. I told Biletooth I'd consider it.

I must admit that now I understand Dumbledore's reasoning on separating the kids, part of me even agrees with his decision. Wards powerful enough to stump a team of curse breakers, whose job 

involves bypassing the most ancient and obscure ward sets ever created on a daily basis, is a fairly good motivation.

That does not excuse leaving the child on the front step without ensuring his safety. Had I not intervened when I did that protection would have failed, and then where would they be.

I find it quite ironic however that Dumbledore's very own protection will prevent him from locating us magically.

December 18th 1991

The kid has been coming to work with me for five days now. And in that time he has managed to take the entire excavation team; which includes 6 curse-breakers, 3 translators, 2 ward crafters and 1 surly goblin; and wrapped them all around his little finger.

Its surprising how one child can take tough, jungle hardened men, and turn them into cooing, gibbering idiots. I watched in morbid fascination as Gaudencio, the 25 stone 6'6 intimidating curse-breaker, spent a good 20 minutes playing peek-a-boo with the kid.

What was more disturbing was how the kid managed to ingratiate himself with Biletooth; who had initially seen the kid as nothing more than a potentially useful resource. Whilst playing, the kid had come across a tarantula the size of my hand; and like any young lad would do, he decided to stab it with a stick. After he had skewered the thing he toddled over to the spot where the goblin liked to lurk, and then presented it to him like one would a freshly picked flower. What passed over the goblins face was the closest thing to a smile that I have ever witnessed on the creature; and since then the two have been thick as thieves.

Goblins are truly disturbing creatures.

December 26th 1991

It all started during Christmas. The elf had gone all out on the Christmas decorations; all the fake snow and tinsel everywhere made me feel like I was living in a snow globe, but the kid seemed to enjoy it so I left it alone.

Christmas morning was supposed to be a quiet affair; the kid's really too young to get into the whole Christmas mania that children are so fond of. I did get the elf to get him a rather modest assortment of presents, 20 or 30 or so. I also decided to give him the silver practice snitch I used to play with as a child. The plan was for us to open his presents, then he could play while I got some light reading done.

Unfortunately plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy; and in this case the enemy was an over-excited house elf, who had taken it upon herself to invite the entire work crew over for Christmas. As I ambled into the living room to witness 11.5 men cramped around the Christmas tree; my first thought was that if that blasted elf wasn't on loan from Gringotts it would be getting clothes for Christmas, lead socks perhaps, followed by a dip in the Pacific.

After I cast a few enlargement charms on the room, and gave the elf a good glaring at; I sat down in a conjured recliner and watched the kid make his way through the pile of presents, which seemed to have tripled in size since yesterday.

He got a whole horde of new toys and games; a set of new blocks from Gaudencio, and a little black akubra gaucho hat from Enrique, one of the translators. He also got a child size wooden spear from Biletooth, for 'hunting' he said; that was promptly confiscated by the elf, who chastised the "naughty goblins bringins' the nasty pointy sticks".

But It was clear that the snitch was his favourite present of the day. It was on its easiest setting, which meant it kept within 2 feet of the kid at all times, and it didn't go too fast. Still he was having trouble as he refused to let go of his stuffed wolf and use two hands to catch it.

After 10 minutes of little success I got frustrated watching, and went down to show him how to do it right. That led to us having a one on one seekers match around the house as we both crawled after the snitch.

The kid's laughter echoed through the house for hours as we played; and I was struck with the thought that this was the first sound that I ever heard from the kid. It left a good feeling in my chest, that I was the first one to get him to laugh. Maybe I should do this more often, just play with the kid.

I can't remember the last time I just played for the fun of it. Childish games were not tolerated in the Aurelius House; 'A child is to be seen not heard', and 'spare the rod, spoil the child' were commonly heard growing up. Being the bookworm that I was meant that I was rarely punished. My brothers Petrus and Lennardus however were often on the wrong end of the nannies stinging hex.

March 3rd 1992

The kid started talking around a week ago, and now I'm missing the days when he was the creepy mute kid.

He's taken to following me everywhere offering up an endless commentary of nonsensical gibberish wherever we go. That amused my co-workers to no end as up until then I had made a name for myself as a no-nonsense professional; having a toddler tail your every move does not add to ones air of mystique, in fact quite the opposite.

The worst part is that I can't even yell at the little brat for it. Every time I turn around to snarl at the little menace he just looks up at me and sticks his lower lip out in a little pout, then all the will to yell and scream drains out of me and I let the matter drop. This in turn elicits more snorts and snickers from my co-worker; which in turn pisses me off further.

He's taken to calling me 'Da' also; I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. On the one hand it does give me a warm feeling inside when he calls me that; no one else even gets a name, except his wolf 'Mooey'. On the other hand I also feel a burning sense of guilt every time I hear it. It would be simpler if the Potters were monsters, who abandoned their child for fame and glory; so much easier to block out the screaming accusations in my mind that I stole this child. But I can still see in my nightmares Lily Potters hysterical sobs, as she handed her baby over for his own protection.

I need a stiff drink.

August 2nd 1994

We celebrated the kids forth birthday today. Every year becomes a bigger spectacle as the guys as work try desperately to outdo each other. In the years we've been here, Justin has become the official team mascot of the group; always running around getting water and carrying tools back and forth.

This year Enrique somehow managed to get three Abraxan mares transported over from the Lima magical zoo for the day. The whole day involved Justin flying over the camp, with me flying underneath him on my broom with my wand out just in case. I can't be sure, but I suspect Enrique had those beasts trained to shit on demand; because there were a few near misses.

Biletooth has also been outdoing himself in the inappropriate gift department; this year it was a Quetzalcoatl hatchling. Unfortunately he has also gotten more cunning about getting the presents to him without me or the elf finding out. By the time we found it, the boy had already given it a name 'Nehebkau'.

I tried to patiently explain to the four year old that perhaps a highly venomous bird/snake was not the best idea for a pet. Then he replied that, Nehebkau had assured him that he wouldn't bite unless provoked; he used the same slightly condescending tone that I used, as if he were the adult and I the four year old.

When I got over the incredulity and small amount of pride I was feeling over his statement. I processed what he actually said; which eventually lead to the realisation that my son is a parcelmouths.

I don't particularly prescribe to the common European parochialisms regarding parceltongue. The ancient Mayan community revered snake-speakers as shamans and tribal elders. In ancient Egypt, people born with the talent were often recruited as temple priests. Even the famous Greek healer Asclepius was thought to have the gift.

My only concern is to how young Justin came to possess this talent. Parceltongue is a typically a hereditary talent. And while it has been known to occur spontaneously in parts of Asia and South America, where the fear of Parseltongue is not so prevalent; It is practically unheard of for a European born wizard, with no family history to have the gift.

While it is my greatest hope that the talent was acquired from some distant relation of Lily Potter; I must accept that the talent was acquired during Justin's confrontation with Voldemort.

I must research the matter further before I draw any undue conclusions.

February 12th 1995

The kid doesn't speak English.

I knew this of course, but it never clicked to me just what that meant. Living in Peru for so long I just became accustomed to speaking the native tongue at all times. That meant that all interactions around the kid were in Spanish. The only other language he has come into contact with is from the others at the site that is mostly from Brazil and Bolivia; aside from the few words of goblin speak that Biletooth has been teaching him, that I don't want to know about.

I noticed the situation this morning when some American muggle tourists stumbled from the jungle and into the settlement outside the excavation site. While the temple complex itself is warded against muggles, the settlement however isn't due to the extensive trading done with the local villages to ferry in supplies.

The group was obviously lost and stumbled onto the location of the settlement by accident. They approached Justin, who was taking to Javier one of the curse-breakers, and must have looked to Justin to provide directions. It seems that while Justin can speak both Spanish and Portuguese like a native and knows more gobbledygook curse word then a goblin sailor, he can't speak a word of English to save his life.

I have resolved to rectify the situation immediately. I have set aside one hour a day during which time I will instruct the child in the basics of the English language. I have also instructed the elf to only speak in English while at home. I am confident that by the end of the year the situation will be resolved.

May 1st 1996

We began learning the basics of Reading, writing and numeracy today. I was concerned that he may be a bit young for such things, until I heard from the guys on site that he was already reading the Toltec hieroglyphs at the excavation with little trouble.

I think I will also gradually introduce him to magical theory and potions while I'm at it. He already has a firm grasp of herbology out of necessity given our proximity to many dangerous plants in the jungle.

If it seems too much for the boy to handle I'll slow down on the magical learning until he's older.

November 23rd 1996

My fears about Justin's education were quite unfounded it seems.

The lad absorbs information like a sponge, in both magical and non-magical fields of study.

He has already learned how to phonetically sound out words in both English and Spanish, and can read basic texts. Also he has learned basic additions and subtraction.

In magical study, he has learned the differences in basic potion terms such as slice and dice. He can also identify most colour changes by sight. He has also learned the Norse runic alphabet using the flash cards that Gringotts gives its stupider employees.

He has asked for a wand for Christmas, so he can learn to do practical wand magic, and not just theory. And while I am hesitant to give a wand to one so young; I can't deny that he has a potential beyond many I've seen, I don't think I can ignore that.

I think the best compromise would be to get him a training wand, similar to the one I used in my years before Hogwarts.

January 21st 1997

It seems that I am too mean to the elf.

That was the conclusion that Justin came to this evening over dinner. Apparently I do nothing but belittle and criticise her. Also my refusal to refer to it by name; which is apparently Jax, not Sniffy as I previously assumed; is also unacceptable. My rebellious son then informed me that I was to change my ways, or else.

Naturally I refused to allow such impudence to go unchecked. I sent him straight to bed without dessert to think about his behaviour. I do regret having to discipline the boy, but it is better to fix the problem now rather than waiting until the behaviour is ingrained.

I'm sure the boy has learned his lesson.

January 22nd 1997

The boy has failed to learn his lesson.

At least that is the conclusion I have drawn upon waking up with a python in my bed, hissing in my ear. It slithered out the window as soon as I woke; leaving me to assume it was working under orders from my wayward son.

This type of behaviour will not be tolerated; and the only way I can make sure the boy understands that is to conjure a flock of seagulls to follow him around all day and squawk at him until the message seeps in.

He'll thank me when he's older.

February 14th 1997

It seems I accepted my son's apparent capitulation prematurely.

In fact he had not given in to my wisdom, but in fact was preparing the most devious of responses to my disciplinary measure. I would seem that he held a grudge after the seagulls soiled his favourite hat beyond all recognition.

Through methods unknown to me, though I suspect goblin collusion; my recalcitrant little protégé somehow managed to drug my co-workers with a rather watered down dose of amortentia.

Thus I spent this valentine's day fighting off the unwanted advances of my all male team while my son and the goblin cackled at my misfortune. And let me tell you, trying to brew an antidote whilst simultaneously hexing off would be admirers, is not as simple as one might think.

Of course you realise, this means war.

February 21th 1997

I had the perfect punishment for my unruly child prepared.

It wasn't as easy to acquire as the punishment I had issued to the goblin for his perfidy; the specialised charm that turned any food within feet of him into Tofu, had him grovelling for forgiveness after a day.

No, the potion master in Lima charged a pretty knut for the temporary de-aging potion I had ordered.

I realised that young Justin was much better behaved as a baby, so it only serves to reason that his behaviour would improve after spending a fortnight as a baby again.

Yes two weeks of bottle feeding and diaper changes will convince him that father really does know best.

April 1st 1997

April fool's day, it seems such a fitting day to end what has been called, 'the greatest ever prank war between a grown man and a seven year old to ever be held'. But this is the day both sides signed the armistice that ended hostilities.

My son actually wrote up a ceasefire agreement, magically binding and everything.

The contract basically states that in return for eating all his vegetables and maintaining an EE grade or higher in all assigned work. I will in return call the elf by her first name; and I will cease throwing cloths at her when she irritates me, I also may have promised to buy him a broom.

I was considering buying him a muggle broom to sweep with, just to teach him a valuable lesson on contract loopholes mind you. But I'm just so proud of the little guy at the moment; I'll let it go this once. He was devious and cunning, yet for a good cause; he managed to outsmart his old man on more than one occasion; and he didn't get caught once. How can I not be proud of that?

Most of my family thought that since I was sorted into Ravenclaw I don't appreciate true Slytherin cunning. But that's because they didn't realise one important fact.

Nobody ever suspects the Ravenclaw.

We get looked over for our bookish ways and zeal to learn. And if someone who crossed us found themselves stuck to the ceiling of the charms classroom, then surely its coincidence and nothing more. And if a certain group of pranksters were falsely accused of the deed and then punished accordingly; well surely we can't be held accountable for that now, can we?

Young Justin learnt a valuable lesson here. Always prank with purpose.

October 10th 1997

Our time in Peru draws to an end.

The temple complex we were excavating has been thoroughly explored. All writings have been translated, and all treasures have been catalogued.

The higher ups in Gringotts were more than pleased with my teams work; nothing was stolen and nobody died on my watch, both things very good for business.

In recognition of my hard work me and the team have been reassigned to the expedition to find the lost Imperial Magical Archives somewhere in the Qinling mountains of China.

Justin seems excited to be going somewhere new; the furthest he's been from the site has been the occasional trip to Lima, out of fear of being recognised.

Although to be honest, anyone recognising Justin as Harry Potter is quite unlikely. While he still has Lily's dazzling emerald green eyes and James strong jaw; he has acquired my families increased stature, standing at almost 5'0.Continuous working outside has given his body a healthy appearance for a child; and while he isn't muscular in any true sense of the word, it's quite obvious he will grow into a very fit young man once he passes through the worst of puberty. He also has my straight black hair, which he has grown out to his shoulders and tied into a pony tail.

We expect the expedition to last between 1 and 2 years, and during that time I would like Justin to pick up as much of the culture as possible. It will be a learning experience for both of us, as I was always weak at Chinese runic scripts.

January 5th 2000

We just arrived in Cairo from Chengdu and Justin has been unusually morose since we left China. He says it's nothing, but I suspect it was hard for him to leave the first friends he ever had that were his own age. Or perhaps more specifically it was hard to leave that pretty May Lin girl, who had taken to following him like a puppy.

It started out as many young romances oft do. She was getting picked on by the local bullies; he rode in with his full length, black dragon hide coat on and his snake wrapped around his neck; and scared the bullies away like a knight in shining armour. She was positively smitten; he was painfully oblivious.

On the day we left she worked up the courage to kiss him, before she ran away, leaving him standing in confusion and embarrassment; the latter of which rose exponentially when he turned around and realised that I had seen the whole thing.

I think that the embarrassment was enough that I won't make fun of him, for a while at least. But still, he snagged his first kiss at 10; beat out his old man by 2 years.

January 16th 2000

It has been decided by the management of Gringotts, that since I am a 'valuable field agent, with a terrific record and plenty of experience'; I would be perfect to oversee the 'final stage of the field training of a Gringotts employee'. Basically that's bullshit speak for 'you drew the short straw, now you have to babysit the probee'.

I suppose it could be worse the kids smart, and he's respectful without being a sycophantic ass kisser. His names Weasley, not that he needed to introduce himself as his family is somewhat infamous amongst the conservative pureblood circle. And the famous Weasley traits of pail freckled skin and bright red hair, stands out amongst a group of dark skinned Egyptians; although the fang shaped earring is a bit surprising.

I predict that if he doesn't get himself eviscerated in the first week, he'll go far as a curse-breaker.

February 10th 2000

Justin met the new kid last week and since then has been talking non-stop about Weasley. Every sentence starts with "Did you know that Bill said..." or "The other day me and Bill..." or "Wait until I tell Bill about...".

It was like that until I pointed out that it sounded as if he had a man crush on Bill; He stopped talking about it after that.

Speaking of Weasley; we were talking the other day when he mentioned that his youngest brother was about Justin's age, and all he can talk about is going to Hogwarts.

He asked if Justin was excited as well, and the question caught me off guard.

I hadn't even thought about it; I hadn't let myself think about it.

Would Justin be going to Hogwarts?

It's not like I was worried about his education suffering, Justin was already finishing 2nd year charms and transfiguration. He knew more about potions then most 5th years. He was already making basic ward circles; sure they were basic perimeter detection wards, but still that is NEWT level runes work.

But it would be best for him to have a constant environment, where he could make friends, and just be a kid.

Then there was the shit storm that was awaiting them when they got back. Justin has been aware of the situation for the last 3 years when he asked where his mum was. I told him the truth in its entirety, about his parents and his brother, and how he was left at the orphanage by his horse faced aunt; although I only skimmed over my life as a death eater. He also knew of my suspicion that it was in fact he, and not his brother who was the B.W.L.

In the end the decision lies with Justin alone, and I will abide by whatever he chooses.

July 31st 2000

Justin's Hogwarts letter arrived today...

TBC