Okay... you guys can hate on me because I haven't updated in over a week. Well, it's been hectic with going forty hours at work, having graduation (finally! XD) and getting accepted for a new job :D yea, my life's been crazy this past week XD.

HPotterFanatic Thank you! And yea, not to spoil, but Terry will be at Hogwarts in this chapter XD

mwinter1: Wait no further, my friend ;)

snowy1219: Aww, thanks! And I agree: some of the best authors get swooped and buried under constant flowing of new fics each day. Well, thank you :) James is cute in the first three chapters purposely lol. About Harry's skills... i willl address this in the future.

harryislife: yes, thank you. I think you may be one of the only people who agree with me. So far, i haven't got any negative comments about it, so we'll see lol.

MOOJJO: Glad to hear XD

On with this wackyness lol.

September 8, 1969

Potter Mansion

James waited patiently for the owl to come back home to the Potter Mansion. It had been deadly boring since Terry left for Hogwarts merely a week ago, and James had waiting every day since for his brother to reply to his letters that he had been sending out to him.

However, he had only gotten one letter, and that was on the second day of school.

The younger Potter sighed, as he left the window still in the living room, a letter in his hand. The letter was crinkled up now, from the many times that James had been reading up on it. He didn't tell Mother or Father, but he took one of their lamps in the middle of the night and even stayed awake up until three o'clock the next morning to reread Terry's letter, with Gobbers slept, snoring beside him. Why won't he answer me? Is he ashamed or something? James couldn't help but wonder well into the night of each growing day.

It made him feel worse as the week went by.

His parents thought that he would be jealous that his brother got to go on the train and eat candy to his heart's content, so they bought him each one that had been on their trip on the Hogwarts Express (with the exception of pumpkin pastries since Father was deadly allergic to them).

For old time's sake, he took out the crumbled out letter, and began to read it:

Jim,

I have received your many letters as of yet, and I am sorry for not replying as quickly as we both intended... you see, there is much homework here that must be completed at a timely manner, and we aren't given enough time to send letters away, yet.

So far, I've made some friends... you know the strange-looking blonde boy that was walking around at the train station? He's Frank Longbottom, and we've become rather close in the little hours. I'd say that he and and I are becoming rather acquainted.

You must have received the letter saying that I got into Gryfindor. It's interesting how we get, er, "sorted" in. I can't tell you since it's against tradition, but knowing our family, you'll just as likely get into Gryfindor as well.

Classes are great. So far, my favourite class has to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, although Potions isn't too bad (if you ask me, Professor Slughorn's been asking me about our Potter family a little too much...). Transfiguration's taught by Professor McGonagall, who is rather strict... but I've managed to make some friends within Gryffindor, not memorable ones; they seem to be intimidated by some of the spells I'd practice during the summer.

Also, I have afternoon tea on Tuesdays with Hagrid; he's the gamekeeper, and very tall. Some people are scared of him, but he's actually really nice. Maybe when you come here, we can have tea with him (however, be sure to nicely say no to the crumpets... they're rather hard). Keeps asking about you... he says you sound like a good, honest kid (of course, I told him that you are).

I hope you're doing well... I know it must be boring at the Mansion with only Gomney keeping you company (other than Mother and Father teaching you).

I will talk to you soon when I have the chance.

Love always,

Terrell Potter

James always giggled at the end of the letter. Why Terry always insisted that he used proper language with the society of wizards, he could not understand. Yes, Terry had always told him that "we are of the House of Potter, and we must be dignified gentlemen", but it didn't mean that they had to be serious all the time.

The younger Potter stood up and walked out of his bedroom to descend down the large staircase that had stood there as many years that the Potters could trace back their family name (well, with the exception of Ignotus Peverell, whose grave now rested in Godric's Hollow.. not too far from here). It may have been an old house, but he and Terry had searched every nook and cranny that may have an indication that there was something interesting about this old place.

"James, dear, can you come down to the living room?"

"Coming, Mother," James called out, using the "proper" address to his Momma (yes, he still referred to his mother as Momma). With a little leap in his step going down the staircase, he grinned as he left the case and walked in the living room.

As per usual, his father was reading the Daily Prophet, most likely checking the statistics of the Quidditch teams, and his mother was reading up on Potions Throughout the Sixteenth Century. James wasn't sure why they wanted him to come downstairs when they were so busy indulging in their readings (although he couldn't understand why his mother was reading Father's old potion book he used in developing Sleakeasy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment).

"Am I in trouble?" James could not help but ask.

Father chuckled. "Trouble? Who said anything about trouble?"

"Son, we were wondering if you wanted to go out today," Mother said. "We know you've been sadden about Terrell's leaving, but you know that you'll be able to go in two years, right?"

James frowned. It was bad enough that he was away from his beloved brother, but did his parents have to bring it up all the time? He recalled the moment that they came back home a week ago and his parents immediately asked he wanted to start some of the readings in the books so he could get a "head start" on his classes. James, however, ran to his bedroom and waited by the window for Persephone (Terry's pet owl that he had gotten for both his birthday and the date that he got his books, which so happened to be the day that he also received his Hogwarts letter).

"I understand," James said, slowly. "But why should I have to be patient about it?"

In all fairness, he wasn't trying to sound impatient... but his thoughts went to the letter his brother sent him. The only letter his brother had sent him recently.

Just as Mother was about to respond, a dark great horned owl came swooping in from the open window. James held his breath and ran over to the owl, who perched herself on the couch across from the radio. With a steady hand, James handed her a crumbled up cracker from his pockets, and the owl nibbled on his hand. Tied to her leg was a letter rolled up, including a package addressed to James.

"Hey, Persephone," James said, happily. The owl rubbed her head against James' hand, so to be pet by him. James wasn't sure why Terry had decided to call his owl Persephone, although James was smart enough to know that it was after the goddess who was captured and made wife to Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Terry had merely made a comment that he may have named his owl "Hades" if the owl had been a boy.

...

"How about this one?" James asked, pointing to a white snowy owl.

For a long time, Terry stared at the owl, James didn't say anything, but he could have sworn that he saw a look of sadness in his eyes. It was, probably, just a trick of his eyes, but Terry looked as though he loved the owl, and the owl reminded him of a bad dream.

"A beautiful owl," Terry noted. He walked over to the darker horned owl that would soon be named Persephone. "But I think black's the color for me now…."

...

James shook his head at the memory, and divulged back to Persephone. He took the package and opened it up with both ease and excitement. Inside was candy from Hogwarts. He smiled at the sight of not only Berty Botts and Caudron Cakes, but also sweets made inside the school.

"Mother, am I allowed to eat this?" he asked, kindly.

"Not in the living room, James Henry," Mother warned him.

"Oh, come on, Mia," Father said, trying to coax her. "He hasn't gotten anything from Terry all week... er, besides, I'd like to hear what Terrell wrote in his letter..." he put down his paper, and faced his youngest son. "What's he got to say, son?"

James took out the letter, and read:

Jim,

I love seeing Persephone coming in everyday to receive your daily letters. Have you been reading up for your first year? Mother says you are catching on rather quickly; perhaps even quicker than I did...

Tea with Hagrid was fun. He has this boarhound named Gruff, but he isn't too rough. In fact, he's kind of sloppy.

Flying lessons was cool; I tried not to show off in front of the rest of the students... but it happened... and even Ronda Witherson (the coach of the Gryfindor Quidditch team) asked if I could join the team. Although Professor McGonagall agrees with Ronda, she did tell me that I had some raw talent. I told her that I wanted to join next year. Even the Slytherine Captain, Steve Laughalot, thought I would be good on the Quidditch team.

I'll send you a letter as soon as I can.

Love always,

Terry

James smiled at the end of the letter. He called himself Terry this time...

Maybe it won't be so bad, after all... to wait for him...

December 1969

King's Cross Station

"Terry!" James called out.

Students walked off the Hogwarts Express steadily, some wearing their uniforms, while others wore jumpers and comfy clothes alike. All the students were happy to see their parents and family, jumping off and greeting them happily. James could hear the students talk about their classes and their new friends as they disappeared through Platform 9 3/4, vanishing through the wall.

James' eyes went to the boy whose hair and stature matched his: a thin, lankly boy with jet-black hair that was incredibly untidy. Although he wore Muggle clothing, he still had a scarf that was drenched in the colours of his House... striped gold and red. Beside him walked a blonde boy not much bigger than him, and James even heard his brother address the boy as "Frank".

He didn't stop running to Terry, even when he was talking to the Frank boy, another tall boy, including a girl with dark hair. James' arms went around Terry in an instant; he felt Terry hug him in response. Later in his life… James saw this as a fear of the three people that would become close friends to Terry, to whom he would soon show admiration for.

"Oi, Potter, what's that caught on you?" one boy asked, laughing. James noted the dark auburn in his hair and the paleness in his face.

"Don't be so rude, Avery!" the girl said, exasperated. "James noted that her accent was... er.. not from Britain at all. "The boy's obviously his younger brother or close relative."

For some reason, the nine-year-old found himself staring at the state of this girl. Her dark blonde hair, pulled in two pigtails, swished around as she spoke. James also, although not to be mean, noticed that her school robes were torn in some places. How come they're so torn? Can't she afford some nicer ones? However, he didn't speak his mind.

"This is my younger brother: Jim," Terry said. James, who was worried that he had embarrassed Terry in front of his friends, sounded rather calm. In fact, James was sure that Terry was introducing him to his friends. "James, this is Frank Longbottom, Avery McAlistar, and Holly Drummond."

James immediately let go of Terry, and extended his hands to Terry's friends. Although he didn't recognize their names, he did find it easy to tell who was… well, who. "Hello," he said, rather nicely. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, James," Holly said, sweetly. "You look so much like your brother, I could have sworn you were his twin!"

"Well..." Avery nodded to the four of them, standing rather awkwardly. "I think I see my parents over there..." he gestured to the back of them, where two people were standing. "See you guys after break."

Frank gave Terry a handshake. "Don't forget to write during break; my parents would love it if you could join us over the holidays."

"I'll send you Persephone either way," Terry agreed, as Frank nodded happily and also went to join his parents. Now, only himself, Terry, and Holly were present. James almost frowned; why wasn't this girl leaving with her parents like the rest of them (he wasn't trying to be rude, but he had been waiting for four months to see his brother). "You're sure you don't want to stay with us, Holly? Our parents wouldn't mind..."

Holly shook her head, her pigtails swishing a little. "No, I'm sure that Mr. and Mrs. Gray will be here - they indicated it in the last letter I sent them." James didn't say, but he did find it curious that Holly would a) not think that her parents would come pick her up, and b) call her supposed caretakers by a last name that didn't match her own. "However, they haven't been to King's Cross Station since dropping me off - but I'm super excited to tell them about this year!"

"Didn't you tell us that they got lost that day?" Terry asked, sounding both concerned and humored at the same time.

"Well, I can't blame them, they are Muggles," Holly said, indifferently (and not appearing to be offended by Terry's choice of words). "And, considering that I've been with them for almost a year - well, technically eight months - I've grown more fond of them compared to the Grieves." Something caught her eyes, and she made a small gesture of a wave to two weirdly dressed people (to James, at least), standing rather scared by the barracks. "Oh, there they are now! I guess someone helped them through!"

Terry nodded, in understanding. "Remember to write to us, okay?" he asked.

Holly grinned. "Of course, Terry. Someone has to help you with Potions, right?" she giggled. "Nice meeting you, James," she added, passing James.

"Bye," James said, meekly, as Holly walked to the terrified people, and the three disappearance out of sight.

Mother and Father walked over to the boys, and Terry had his trolly ready.

"You have to tell us all about it, son," Father said. "Your brother... er, has been waiting to hear from you all term!"

James pouted. "Oh, come on, Dad!"

"It's alright," Terry said, with a level head. "I'll get to tell you all about it when we get home."

The two brothers followed Mother and Father through King's Cross, but James made sure that he was a little behind them so that he was out of their earshot:

"Terry... that girl you were talking to... Holly, right? Is she a..." he squinted his eyes, trying to find the word Mother had used in the past, "a... Muggle-born?"

Terry gave one of his famous shrugs. "I can't tell you, Jim. All she's ever told me is that she grew up with foster parents, being moved from place to place. She could be a pure-blood for all I know..."

"But why did she call those people... the Grieves... not good?" James couldn't help but asked.

Terry made sure to keep his voice down, nearly to a whisper. "She confided in me with some rather horrible stuff she had to grow up with. Some things that I wish I had a Memory Charm so I don't have to remember..." He sighed. "People have been calling her names... like Holy Dumb Blonde, only because she started off in an orphanage, and wears second hand robes... when she's actually rather smart." He shook his head. "Some people aren't as privileged as us, Jim."

James nearly refused to carry on with the conversation, as he were lost in thought. He was well aware that some people didn't have the luxuries that he and Terry had grown up with... but Terry never showed any sign of being rude or stuck-up just because of his heritage. And to call someone a cruel name because she was dressed in-

-worn-out robes.

He immediately thought back to what his first impression of Holly was, before he heard about her background. She had seemed nice, but James was used to wearing nice clothing and never had to worry about moving to a new family. But to not know whether your parents were wizards or if you were a Muggle-born witch... it must have been hard.

James, close to his brother's footsteps as the Potters left King's Cross Station, decided to make a vow:

I'm going to try really hard to not judge people.

So... Persephone... where the Hell did I pull that from? XD (get it? Because Hades dragged her to Hell... no?)

Actually, there's a really good reason why I gave Terry an owl (a black one, mind you) named Persephone. Hades is associated with death, and it's fitting since Harry is the Master of Death here. I could have used any name, but I felt Persephone made sense.

I've introduced some characters here, especially one named Holly Drummond. I primarily made her since I always saw Harry (in any timeline) having a Muggle-born/raised friend, because of his hardships with the Dursleys. As you can tell, I wanted to introduce her as this girl who comes to mind as a more confident Severus Snape (whom we all know James was notorious for calling Snevilius), and was one of the reasons why I decided to make Harry the older brother of James. She reminds me a lot of Luna Lovegood.

And I've seen some fanfics of MoD!Harry where he doesn't have any friends... so Avery and Holly were born. Avery is literally a name I came up with (since I could not find any other students that would have went to school first year as Terry that were interesting enough), but I hope to flush him out as a character. He kind of gives me a half-blood vibe at the moment, but I may change his status at any time.

Yes, I have Frank Longbottom here... but there's a reason. I don't want to say yet because I may or may not play out with it. However, whatever Harry does here in this "universe" will have drastic changes in the timeline that we all know.

Okay, that's it for now, because I have to work in the morning... and I'm tired lol. So please be kind with the spelling mistakes, I will correct them.

Updated: June 17, 2016