Just to clear it up, Harry was not reincarnated as either Sam or Dean.
Chapter 2: Hey Jude
Harry would admit to being a horrible baby to his new parents. For nearly a week, he had screamed and cried, venting out all his emotions and grief, mourning over all the people he had lost. His new parents had been frazzled and worried that something was wrong with him, but the doctors had all said that he was perfectly healthy.
When he had finally calmed down, Harry started to pay attention. His new parents' names were John and Mary Winchester. They were Americans. His birthday remained the same, except for the year, and his name; it was still Harry. Harry Winchester.
Being a baby was boring. Once Harry became more quiet, something his new parents seemed grateful for, he had nothing to do to entertain his adult mind. Most of his days were spent sleeping or thinking. And he got a lot of thinking done.
Hermione, the last thing he had had in a war torn world, would have wanted him to move on. He would mourn his loved ones for a long time, they were people he would never see again given his immortality, but he would try to make the best of it he could for now. Hermione would not have wanted him to live and be bitter.
As the months went by, he had told himself he wouldn't get attached to Mary and John. He had been determined not to. He was immortal, he would see them die and Harry didn't want that pain again. But being a baby was so incredibly lonely. They were the only people he interacted with, they set his schedule, fed him, changed him, played with and talked to him. It was impossible to depend on someone like that and not come to love them.
Lily and James had given their lives for him, John and Mary had given him a life, a happy, laughter and joy filled childhood. He considered the four of them his parents, and he loved them very much.
Time flew quickly, and it wasn't long, just two short years since his rebirth that mom, Mary, had fallen pregnant again.
l.
Harry peered into the crib, kneeling on a chair to let him reach. A blond, green eyed, a shade lighter than his own deep emerald, baby watched him, occasionally gurgling.
Harry had never had siblings. He had had people he considered family, but never had the luck of a blood sibling. He had envied Ron's big family, but they had taken him in as if he had been one of their own. He had never been an older brother before. If Lily and James had lived, he could have been. They would have probably had more kids. Harry stared down at the little baby.
He was a big brother.
"Harry?" The soft voice of his mother made the two year old look away from the baby currently falling sleep to turn to Mary, standing at the doorway with an amused smile on her face. She came to stand by the crib, picking up Harry and settling him on her hip.
"How do you like Dean?" She asked, eyes warm with love as she watched Dean in his crib before looking back Harry.
"I like 'im. Im'a big brother," he replied. Harry didn't really want to dumb himself down but it was necessary here. No need to freak out his parents with a genius baby. A laugh came from the doorway, making Mary turn and Harry twist to see over her shoulder. John made his way over to them, giving Mary a kiss on the lips and taking Harry from her.
He had just gotten home from work, and Harry grinned at him as John smiled.
"That's right," he said, the two of them watching as Dean got fussy and Mary picked him up, rocking him back and forth, humming. "And big brothers always protect their little siblings, you know."
Harry had every intention of doing so.
ll.
Days bled into months, and Harry loved and cherished every moment he spent with his new family. Hermione would be proud of him.
Dean was an incredibly affectionate and loud baby. He started babbling quickly and often made a lot of noise. He grew well, and he seemed utterly taken with Harry.
Harry would sit with him on the floor when Dean learned to sit up by himself, and play games while Mary cooked in the kitchen, keeping an eye on them nonetheless. Later, John would come home from the mechanic shop and greet both him and Dean enthusiastically, playing with both until it was dinner time.
They would tuck Dean in first, then Harry. It had been embarrassing at first, what with having the mind of a twenty something year old, but Harry had never taken things for granted. He hadn't had a good family life the first time around, he'd enjoy this one while he could.
lll.
"Shh," Harry soothed, running his chubby toddler hand over Dean's blond hair, trying to soothe the baby's cries. Their parents were sleeping still, and the light from the moon was the only thing illuminating Dean's nursery.
Harry had been experimenting with his magic since he had been able to walk. He wasn't able to do much, as he felt that most of his magic was sealed away. He had panicked at first, but eventually realized that it was because he was in the body of a child that wouldn't be able to handle the magical core of an adult if it ran around unchecked.
Since then, he had placed a listening charm in his room connected to Dean's. If he so much as whined in his sleep, Harry would know. If he could get Dean to sleep without it waking up John and Mary and making them lose sleep, Harry would be happy to do it. His magic could still do small things, like now.
With the flick of his fingers, the small silvery form of a dog appeared, dancing in the air above Dean's face. The baby stopped sniffling, instead his little tearful hiccups had turned into giggles.
A couple of flicks and Prongs and Moony joined Padfoot. Dean gurgled and giggled in delight, stubby hands waving as he tried to grasp one of the little silvery figures. Harry smiled, and he was surprised to find that conjuring up remainders of his past no longer hurt as much as it had before. Little balls of magic joined the Marauders, giving Dean a light show that thrilled the baby. He tired himself out quickly, with Harry's hand running through his hair, and was asleep not long after.
"Sweet dreams, Dean," Harry whispered, retracting his hand and quietly going back to his room.
lV.
Harry frowned, staring down at the silky material spread across his bed and over his lap. The invisibility cloak had appeared when he had turned five, a week ago. His parents had thrown him a small birthday party, and amongst his presents there had been a little black box with a silver bow. It would have been perfectly normal had it not been for the the card where it was supposed to say who it was from. There was no name, but the symbol of the Deathly Hallows had been inscribed there. That had confirmed the present to have been from Death.
There was a card inside too. And it had Harry's insides freezing with rage and fear.
'The time will come when this will be useful. But you must find the Stone and the Wand on your own. The Hallows must rejoin their wielder, master.'
He crushed the card in his palm, trembling from the force of his emotions. Death was cruel, Harry decided. He threw him into this life, which he had reluctantly and cautiously come to love, and now he reminded Harry that he could never leave his past behind. The cloak was a warning no doubt, otherwise Death wouldn't have included that he would need it at some point.
Having his name remain the same in a supposedly new life had been a clue that Death hadn't thrown him here out of the goodness of his heart. He was here for a reason. And knowing his luck, Harry didn't doubt that things would take a turn for the dangerous.
"Harry!"
He stuffed the cloak and the box under his bed just as his door was thrown open, a grinning two year old standing at his doorway. Harry felt a twitch in his heart. He didn't want his faultless family to get caught up in whatever it was Death wanted him to do. Especially not his little brother.
Dean seemed to sense his downtrodden mood. His round faced scrunched up in worry. It made a small smile play at Harry's lips. He stood up and went to Dean, poking his forehead. The kid flinched back, going crosseyed to glare at the offending finger.
"Your face will get stuck like that if you keep making that face," Harry teased, inwardly sighing in relief when Dean got distracted trying to get him back. He had to level up his self magic teaching and training. He refused to let anything happen to his parents, and especially Dean. He had work to do.
V.
Dean had come into his room, visibly upset. Harry, who had been reading a book, frowned and put it aside as his little brother jumped up onto his bed with the wizard.
"What's wrong, Dean?" He asked cautiously, watching how the boy was pouting and almost near tears.
"Mommy and daddy are fighting again," he sniffed.
Harry's life with the Winchesters had really been nothing but pleasant. A family like this had never been something he even dared dream about. John and Mary had been fighting constantly recently, the only disturbance beside Death's present that had ever shaken his now peaceful life. They had seemed like such a good couple, Harry hadn't thought them possible of fighting. He wondered, had Lily and James lived, would they have fought too?
Harry had been about to comfort his brother when what sounded like the front door slammed shut. He looked at Dean before hopping off of the bed.
"Stay here." He left Dean in his room before making his way downstairs. Mary sat on the couch, slumped and dejected. He made his way to her, feeling his worry rise at seeing her trembling shoulders.
"Mama." She straightened up immediately, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand as she tried for a shaky smile to give her son. Obviously, it didn't fool him.
"What is it sweetie?" She asked, trying her best to seem cheerful. By the little footsteps going down the stairs, Dean hadn't listened to him. The blond came running to them, his earnest green eyes widening at seeing the state their mother was in. He ran to her arms and hugged her fiercely. Harry soon joined them.
"It okay, mommy," the two year old muttered, making Mary blink in surprise. "Daddy still loves you."
Mary let out a watery laugh, her arms wrapping around both him and Dean in a tight hug.
John came back almost a week later.
Vl.
Mary was sleeping, resting after a weekend at the hospital. John was keeping watch over her, leaving Harry and Dean to marvel at the newest addition to the family by themselves.
"So tiny," Dean breathed out, full of awe and admiration as he stared at his little brother through the bars of the crib. Harry was doing the same next to him, only a little bit taller.
"You were that tiny," Harry told him, staring at Sam, who was currently sleeping, a tad bit overwhelmed. He had considered himself lucky to have gotten a little sibling, but two? He had been shocked when Mary had gotten pregnant again. Sam reminded him of little Teddy, before his metamorphous powers had settled in and the kid had gone around with different eye colors everyday. They had the same shade of warm brown. It had made Harry smile, though his heart had clenched at the though of his godson. Teddy had died with Andy in the first of the raids.
"Really?" Dean's face scrunched up, as if he found that hard to believe. It was cute. Then a big smile spread over his face.
"I'm a big brother now too! And big brothers gotta protect their little brothers," Dean quoted their father. Harry ruffled the kid's blond hair.
"That's right," he agreed. "We'll both take good care of Sammy."
Vll.
Harry guiltily glanced at the his parents' door, before continuing his way outside. He was under the cloak, which came in handy when he snuck out to practice with his magic. He was a lot more powerful than the average wizard child, but it was hard to get all that magic under control. He was rather proud of the fact that he hadn't had a big magical incident that would have alerted his parents that he was different.
Steeping outside, Harry made his way to a little park not far from the house. He cast a muggle repellent and a Notice-Me-Not, before slipping off the cloak. He hadn't found the Elder wand yet, and he never had had the chance to see if there were any Wizarding places around here to get a new one. Hell, he wasn't even sure if wizards existed in this world. Magic clearly did.
He had been stuck practicing wandless. The basic spells he could do without much effort, but the bigger combat spells were another thing all together. He was making good progress, and Harry was confident at his pace. Wandless magic was hard because you needed both finesse and raw power to make it work. The skill to control his magic and then the strength to push it out of his body without a wand as a conductor to make it easier. Harry had sheer raw power in spades, but control took brutal discipline, which was what he'd mostly been working on.
Harry had been training for almost two hours when he heard it.
Just like he'd done with Dean, Harry had attached a listening charm in Sam's nursery and connected it to him. One was in place in his and Dean's shared room.
Harry Apparated straight into the first floor bathroom, doing his best to avoid anyone seeing him. He heard John's heavy steps as he called out for Mary and Harry wasted no time banging open the door and running after his father. John didn't notice him.
Harry slowed down when he saw Dean peeking out of their shared room, wide eyed and scared.
"Harry?" His voice sounded tiny and so painfully young. "What's happening?"
Harry realized he had probably been startled awake by the same thing that had had the wizard panicking and feeling as if an icy hand was squeezing his heart.
Their mother's scream.
Which was followed up by John's desperate calls. Harry cursed himself in getting distracted, running straight into Sam's nursery. He made it just in time to see Mary, stomach punctured, burst into flames. The picture engraved itself into his memory, and it would haunt him for years. The heat and fire didn't even register, all he felt was numb, and the tears starting to sting at his eyes.
Dean ran in after him, and Sam's crying snapped both John and Harry out their daze. The older man scooped up the baby, handing him to Dean, who was closest.
"Both of you, get out as fast as you can and don't look back!" John snapped at them, but gently pushed them towards the door. Harry knew he was in shock, but his body moved on autopilot as he hurriedly ushered his brothers out of the room as if Hell was at their heels.
John had stayed to try and salvage Mary, Harry realized. But he also knew it was futile. In his gut, he knew Mary had been dead a couple of seconds before the fire.
The three brothers had just made it outside when John ran out behind them. With one arm, he snatched up Dean, Sam still in his arms, and with the other, he grabbed Harry. Just in time as the nursery behind them exploded.
The authorities arrived quickly, but there was nothing that could be done for their mother.
John sat on the hood of his car, cradling Sam to his chest, staring at nothing, looking for all to see like a broken man with teary eyes. Dean sat next to him, huddled with a shadowed face as he also stared at nothing, not able to comprehend what had happened. As for Harry, he was shaking, hands clenched into his clothes with a white knuckled grip as he fiercely fought his emotions.
The peaceful days he had enjoyed so much were over.
I hadn't expected to update so soon, but my muse for this was rather strong. The chapter is somewhat choppy since I hurried along the toddler years to get to the start of the show. Seriously though, I hadn't expected such a warm reaction to this, it means a lot. So I hope you guys enjoyed it.
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