A\n: Now comes the harder parts. Do tell me if the quality is degrading or when the plot is too boring.

Chapter: 3

Cradle for a dream

It was hard to miss them. A sea of redheads coming through the trick wall in a group. At the front were four boys, all laughing and talking very animatedly. Two of them were twins. The other two were as alike as they could be. First one was tall like the twins, his face filled with freckles like that of the twins. The second one was handsome boy who moved with an easy grace. He was less animated of the four as the twins were teasing the other tall boy about something which Harry couldn't hear above the uproar of the crowd. There was a little girl crying in what was sure to be her mother's arms about something while alongside her walked a severe looking boy who was glaring deploringly at the twins from afar. Then came a handsome man with mischievous grin plastered on his face and with him was a man with jet black hair, wearing glasses and a carefree smile. He too walked with a charming grace. Harry knew at a sight, who he was. Harry had a striking resemblance to his father. Behind them walking slowly was Lily Potter.

He felt his heart lurch at the sight of his mother. She was exactly like he had dreamt about for all those years. The fleeting memory of her from his childhood could not do justice to the feeling he was now having when seeing her in reality.

She was beautiful.

She had barely contained tears in her eyes as she walked alongside a man wearing shabby clothes who was consoling her. She was still wearing a proud smile though as she wistfully gazed at the handsome boy at the front.

They stopped in front of the train. The boys with freckles all gathered around the matronly woman who Harry assumed was their mother. They all had their respective hugs and hurried of to get their seats in the train.

Adam Potter stood before his father filled with nervous energy over going to Hogwarts. His father grabbed his shoulders and looked him over with pride filled eyes then pulled him into a tight hug. Harry couldn't help but feel an intense amount of jealousy at him.

James Potter said something to his son who just grinned and nodded. Adam then turned to his mother who spread her arms, inviting her son for hug. Adam didn't disappoint. He ran into the arms of his mother who hugged him warmly, and Harry felt the beasts of jealousy clawed at his insides. The pain was almost physical.

Adam Potter had everything Harry had ever wanted in life.

The look Harry saw in Lily Potter's eyes for her son was too much for Harry.

It took a titanic amount of strength from his side to keep himself from leaping out of the train and meeting his REAL family face to face. He couldn't though. The rejection would be too painful. What was he compared to the great Adam Potter? He defeated the darkest wizard at the age of one. The escapades he had with the Death Eaters were legendary and the followers of the Dark Lord were many.

Lily Potter was the youngest ever Unspeakable in the history. Her job is of the highest profile and well….unspeakable.

James Potter and Sirius Black were the deadly duo of the Auror force. They finished their assigned missions with style and panache as the ministry reports describe it. They were the most sought after and famous Aurors in Great Britain. The Death Eaters still believed that their master was alive and continued to take guidance from a unanimous party which is still unknown to the ministry. It is not surprising therefore that the duo had much work. It was a temperament to their sheer skill that for such a public outing the Potter family needed no protection except for those two. The family after all was on the most wanted list of the Death Eaters after the demise of their master.

Remus Lupin was the most distinguished werewolf in the history of Britain. He was a greatly distinguished scholar.

Together they were all as tightly knit a family as there ever could be. Harry felt like a flea among them. What had he ever accomplished in life to even deserve their notice? He was just a normal boy, who lived on the mercy of his aunt and uncle. He had to become something. He wanted to become great enough, so that when at last the time may come for the confrontation, he could have their respect. So that when at last they have knowledge of him, they would have no shame in acknowledging him. Yes, the wait would be too painful, but the rejection would kill him.

She pulled Adam back from her grasp and talked rapidly with him to which Adam just continued nodding. She smiled at the end of her tirade and kissed his face all over. Harry had to try hard against closing his eyes at the naked love that the family displayed. He had to see. He had to witness what he was missing for the motivation he needed to become a great wizard.

"That is Adam Potter." A feminine voice beside him said, startling Harry from his stupor.

A bushy haired girl was sitting in the opposite seat of Harry. She too was gazing at the Potter family. She and a round faced boy had invited themselves into the compartment when Harry wasn't looking.

She looked back at Harry and then narrowed her eyes. "Why are you crying?" she asked.

"Umm…gazing at a thing for too long dries your eyes too much, I guess." Harry said, thinking fast while trying his utmost to keep his voice steady. He wiped off his tears with his sleeves and brought his emotions back to control.

"Hmph! Why do they worship him so much? It was obvious it was a lucky accident, what happened to him ten years ago!" she said pompously.

Now that Harry had better understanding of his surroundings, he too noticed that almost half the platform was staring at the family. The family it seemed were oblivious to the attention they were getting. Probably too used to all the hype that surrounded them.

When the train blew its warning gong, Adam Potter briefly hugged the nearby two men who accompanied them and ran into the train. He then continued waving to his family until the departed train led him away from their sights.

After one last longing glance at the specs that disappeared into the horizon, he turned back to the girl in his compartment.

"How do you know it was an accident?" Harry asked hoping to break in the silence that filled the compartment when she and another boy who sat beside her were gazing awkwardly at the weird behaviour Harry displayed.

She was quick to bounce back. "Oh come on! How could a one year old boy possibly defeat the most powerful dark wizard ever! Even Albus Dumbledore was unable to completely subdue him. How in common sense could that happen?" she ranted in a rapid tone, glaring annoyingly at Harry as if he was just stupid.

"Umm…with magic?" Harry replied, nervously, intimidated by her enthusiasm.

Her eyes widened. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish without water. It was entirely possible that Adam Potter underwent some unexplainable magical phenomenon that enabled him to defeat the Dark Lord.

"That could be actually possible…." She almost whispered to herself. "It's just that the concept of magic itself is pretty hard to wrap your finger around, isn't it?" she asked Harry.

"Yeah, it was a shock to me as well." Harry replied.

"So you are a muggleborn too?" she asked.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Then you are a pretty smart one aren't you?"

"Umm..How could you say that?" Harry asked inquisitively.

"I can just tell. I am Hermoine Granger and this here is Neville Longbottom. I hope you didn't mind we invited ourselves into your compartment. We wanted to ask permission but you were….distracted ."

"My name is Harry Dursley. Its okay, you are welcome here."

"So, you are a muggleborn too?" Harry asked Neville.

"Umm…no. I am from a wizard family. Although I am barely a wizard."

"Why do you say that?"

"My grandmother thought I was a squib until my great uncle Algie accidentally dropped me from a three storey building. I just bounced around. That was the first time I showed any kind of magic."

"Where were your parents?" Hermione asked. Horrified at the idea of such carelessness toward a child.

"They are umm..gone."

"You mean they abandoned you?" Harry blurted out without thinking.

"No! They are…"

"Oh!" Hermione and Harry both said in unison. They were fast to change topic then. She told them about their parents and Harry told them what his uncle did. Hermione was wise enough not to make the same mistake twice and ask for Harry's parents.

They then wandered off to the school and its curriculum. Hermione was very excited to find out that like her, Harry too had read through almost all of there course books(although not memorized it). They went into a heated discussion on various topics of their course while Neville just stared dumbly at both of them.

Harry was just happy to have some friends. It wasn't long before the topic went into practical applications. Hermione was very excited to try it and quickly got out her wand. She practiced a spell that after some tries and many reviews from her books created a bluebell flame. Everyone muttered their astonishment. Neville was a pureblood which meant he was having informal tuitions for magic since he was eight. Apparently purebloods children were allowed to do magic as long as there is an adult wizard to supervise. Hermione was horrified at the injustice of it to the muggle-borns but Neville was quick to console and tell her that he wasn't any good either way. She didn't look much relieved though. He still managed to do some basic rudimentary spells like turning the skin of his toad yellow.

When it came to Harry's turn, the toad suddenly escaped Neville's grasp and landed on the seat beside Harry. Harry was quick to think of a charm which he had seen many times in his book.

He swished and flicked his wand and cried out, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The toad started floating above the seat. Harry was amazed that he got that in his first try. Hermione and Neville were even more amazed of Harry as they both new it was quite a difficult charm to learn and Harry had tried and succeeded in doing it on a moving object nonetheless!

Just then the door to the compartment opened and none other Adam Potter poked his head in.

"There you are Neville! We had been searching for you all over the train. Where had you been?" He asked in a concerned voice.

Behind him was the tall boy with freckles Harry saw with Adam earlier.

Adam then noticed the floating toad and then at Harry. Their eyes met. Jet black eyes met green. A flicker of some inexplicable sense of recognition crossed Adam's eyes.

Harry had a face too much like his father's, eyes too much like his mother's.

Harry was quick to turn around. He felt the burn of scalding hatred in his stomach, and his concentration ruptured.

The toad fell, Adam was quick. The movements were blindingly fast, before anyone could even fathom what was happening, the toad was once again floating barely inches from the floor of the train. It then floated back to Neville's outstretched hands.

"Take care of your toad Neville, it is always running." He said to Neville without taking his eyes off Harry who was suddenly more interested in the scenery outside.

"Yeah! Thanks Adam. Listen, I would like to be spend more time with my new friends if you don't mind. I would meet you at the station." Neville said, unnerved by the tension in the room.

Adam at last took his eyes from Harry.

"Are you sure? I know the twins can be a bit handful but I can rein them in if you feel uncomfortable around them."

"No thanks, really. Its great here." Neville said.

Adam sighed in defeat and then nodded. "Okay. If that's what you want."

He then turned to Hermione and extended his hand.

"Hi! I am Adam Potter. Nice to meet you."

"Of course we know who you are! You are all over out history books. I am Hermione Granger by the way." She said in excitement after she recovered from her shock of seeing Adam perform magic.

Adam then turned to Harry, who was ignoring him altogether.

"I think it would be polite to introduce yourself." Adam said to Harry who still refused to look away from the running scenery outside.

"Yes, it would be." Harry said without turning around.

"Would you mind introducing yourself then?"

Harry at last turned around. "Yes, I would mind."

The compartment went silent.

"I am Ronald Weasley. Call me Ron though." The tall freckled boy intervened breaking the tension.

"Come on Adam! Don't you see he is too tongue tied in front of the great you to tell his name." he said with a grin plastered on his face.

Everyone stared incredulously at him.

"Come on. He doesn't want to talk to you then don't stalk him for goodness sake! Fred bought some new merchandise from the Zonko's. Let's check out." Ron ranted on dragging Adam out of the compartment as Adam too forgot the momentary weirdness and started on to his own compartment all the while talking with Ron loudly over a number of things.

Hermione was staring at Harry.

"What was that?" she asked him in confusion.

"Don't be jealous of him Harry. He had formal training from his parents and godfather ever since he was four. He has always been too exceptional. It takes some getting used to but he is a nice guy otherwise." Neville told Harry misinterpreting Harry's emotions.

Hermione gave one last sceptical look at Harry who was back to gazing at the outside scenery and then began animatedly talking to Neville.

"But Neville! He was doing non-verbal magic! That is beyond even the sixth year course if I have to hazard a guess. I have read that it takes an immense amount of discipline to harness the magical core into non-verbal spell. It is too hard for even fully matured wizards. Is he more powerful than an adult wizard at such a young age?"

"Actually that pretty much sums it up. His family is pretty crazy about their son's training. You'd think he really was preparing to fight He-who-must-not-be-named in the future!" Neville told her.

And on they went throughout the train ride, wisely ignoring a sulking Harry who didn't want to talk.

Harry was gazing at the wand tightly clutched in his hands now. The words of the wand maker ringing in his mind.

"I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Dursley because after all the owner of its brother wand, He-who-must-not-be-named did great things-terrible, yes but great."

He had said Harry was destined to do great things but Harry realized great things wouldn't just get done for him. He would have to try very hard. After all no matter how great he becomes it would be for nothing if he couldn't surpass his accursed brother. He would have to try harder than he ever imagined before.

He would become a great wizard, greater than anyone so that when he faces his parents at last..they would know to be proud in having such a son, to regret ever leaving him and then they would love him.