Disclaimer: The plot is mine. I own nothing else.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Glad everyone seems to be liking lil Harry. Also, I recently got a review from a –Jayley– who was wondering if this story is going anywhere. Thought I'd post my response for anyone else wondering the same thing:
I do have plans for where this story is going, but the story 'is' just getting started so we're not terribly deep into the plot just yet. Ultimately it'll end after Voldemort is defeated. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - Voldemort hasn't even been mentioned in this story yet. That just lets you know there's still a way to go before I get there. Hmm, what else can I tell you without giving away too much? Well, Lupin will enter the story in a few chapters. Also, Evan will be returning to Hogwarts eventually and making some new friends. Lucius Malfoy will have a part in this story, as Tom Riddle's diary will make an appearance. That's all I can really say without giving too much away.
Also a couple of reviewers have mentioned Dumbledore. It'll be a few chapters yet before you get to see his reaction to events. Needless to say, he will be less than pleased.
Oh, and –Sylkie– mentioned that Evan didn't curse the Dursleys or anything. I forgot to keep a copy of my respose to that comment but I'll explain it anyway. Firstly, he needed to get his business done and out of there as quickly as possible before Dumbledore caught on. Also, I figure that it's lil Harry's place to mete out punishment to this world's Durleys if he so chooses. I do have tentative plans for him take some sort of legal action against them when he gets older.
Well, that's all from me folks. Enjoy the next chappie!
Chapter 9 – Home and Explanations
– Sun, 7/2/1988 –
They arrived in a tangle of limbs, feet slamming into the ground before losing their balance, falling sprawled across the floor. Luckily Evan landed on the bottom of the pile. Small for his age though he may have been, he was still large enough compared to Harry that he would have hurt the little boy.
After much awkward untangling and several apologises for the squashing of various limbs, the two managed to find their feet again. Then they stopped and stared in open mouthed awe.
Potter Manor certainly lived up to its name. The place was obviously fantastically wealthy, and was quite grand looking, but in a tasteful manner. They had arrived in a large entrance hall, much like that of Hogwarts in that a large staircase dominated the room and several large doors led off from it. That was where the similarities ended however.
The floor was done in polished marble, as was the staircase. The banisters were black and the railings and floors were done in white, all veined in gold. In the centre of the floor was inlaid the Potter crest in black marble among the white. The stairs were carpeted in blood red trimmed in gold; the lush sort of carpet that begged to be waked about on barefoot. The focus of the room was a large, beautiful, crystal chandelier, accented in gold. It hung from the ceiling and even unlit it reflected rainbows of colour about the room.
"Wow," Evan whispered.
"You live here?" came Harry's awed voice.
"Apparently," at the questioning look he added, "I only inherited the place today. This is the first time I've ever seen it."
"It's beautiful."
"Yeah, it really is."
At the sound of creaking they both turned to look to the left. The huge door swung open a small way and through it walked a tiny creature with large pointed ears and enormous blue eyes. It was humming to itself merrily. Harry, having never seen a house-elf before, gave a small yelp of surprise, drawing the attention of the elf who in turn squeaked in shock.
"Who is youse?" the creature asked in a high squeaky voice, "What is youse doing here?"
Harry shifted his gaze nervously from the elf to his companion. Sensing his charge's uncertainty, Evan rested a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, feeling the young boy relax somewhat.
"Hello," he greeted the confused elf politely, "My name is Evan Potter and this here is Harry Potter-"
He got no further than that as the little elf began dancing around happily.
"Masters has come, Masters has come! Tilly is so happy!" she suddenly stopped dancing, "Oh, Tilly must tell to old Kell the news!"
And with that she disappeared with a soft 'pop', leaving the two boys staring at where she had been in confusion.
"What was that?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.
Hermione would kill me, Evan thought to himself.
"That was a house-elf. They're sort of servants in wizard homes who are bound to the family."
"Like how I used to be with the Dursleys?"
Evan winced, "Yes sort of like that, only house-elves enjoy serving their families. They consider it an honour."
"Why?"
"I don't know, they're strange like that. Unfortunately, some wizards don't appreciate them and treat them quite badly. I once knew an elf that was expected to iron his hands and bash his head about whenever he disobeyed or spoke badly of his master."
"That's terrible!" the boy looked horrified.
"I know. I didn't know that this manor had elves, but now that I do we'll have to make sure we treat them well."
He saw a determined look settle over Harry's face. As the boy nodded firmly he knew he would never have to worry about him mistreating their servants. At the sound of a soft pop, followed by another, they looked down to see that the house-elf Tilly had returned and another had come with her.
The other elf was perhaps the oldest he had ever seen barring Kreacher. He was stooped and heavily wrinkled, walking with the aid of a small knobbly cane. Unlike the demented Black elf however, his age seemed to give him a sort of dignity.
"You sees, Kell?" Tilly squeaked enthusiastically, "Masters! Masters in the manor again!"
"Yes," the elder elf's voice was a strange mixture high yet croaky, "Youse are indeed Masters. Youse is wearing Potter rings. Greetings Masters, I is Kell."
"Yes, Greetings Masters," the younger elf said, "How may Tilly and Kell serve youse?"
"Well," said the elder Potter, "As I told Tilly before, I'm Evan and this is Harry."
"Master James's son!"
"Yes Tilly, James Potter's son."
"But you is too old to be Master James's son also," Kell said perceptively.
He bit his lip, wondering what to say. He glanced to his side and say that Harry was staring at him avidly also. Clearly the boy wanted to know the answer as well. Knowing that he would have to tell him and that house-elves could be trusted to keep secrets, he made his decision and gave a nod.
"Alright. I'll explain my story to you all. But first, is there anyone else living in the manor? It would be easier for me to explain to you all at once."
"Tilly will show you to the parlour. Kell will fetch the other elves."
With that the old elf gave a bow and popped away. Tilly then directed the two to one of the side doors.
"This way young Masters."
The door opened directly into the parlour. The room was decorated in dark blues and soft creams with delicately carved furniture filling the room. A painting of the sea on a full moon night adorned the wall. The enthusiastic house elf gestured for them to take a seat on a blue cushioned couch whose arms and feet were carved to look like intricate vines growing up and out from the plush carpet.
The boys took a seat but Tilly did not, choosing to stand at attention opposite them. Evan was about to offer her a seat when three soft pops echoed in the room as three house-elves appeared. The first was Kell, who they already knew. The other two looked up at him with their large eyes before the one on the left bowed and the other curtseyed awkwardly, sending fond looks towards a bundle in her arms. A small high-pitched gurgle drew his attention to the reason for the she-elf's awkwardness and doting expression. In her arms was the tiniest elf he had ever seen. It eyes were huge and blue, blinking about at the room. Its ears seemed even larger than normal for a house-elf when compared to its tiny face. It was a baby.
"As Master knows," Kell spoke up, "I is Kell. I is manager of household. This is Kell's son Gully. Gully is keeper of grounds. This elf is Libby, Gully's mate, who is in charge of kitchens. Tilly is Libby and Gully's first elfling. She keeps house clean. Baby elfling who Libby holds is Kell's second grand-elfling, Mina."
"Nice to meet you all," Evan said
"Hi!" Harry waved shyly from where he was tucked against his side.
Evan could tell the younger boy's bashful behaviour had immediately endeared him to Libby who was now alternating her motherly looks between the boy and the elfling in her arms. Kell turned to address the two new elves.
"The little Master is Master Evan," he introduced, "And the littler Master is Master Harry."
Evan pouted at being referred to as 'little' but the elves seemed not to notice as Gully and Libby bowed and curtseyed once again.
"Why don't you all have a seat? I have quite a story for you all," he suggested.
The elves looked mildly surprised but sat down nonetheless. Evan was hearted by the implications of the fact that they had not collectively burst into tears at the gesture. It seems his family had been in the habit of treating their servants well.
He looked from the elves to the curious and eager face of the boy curled against his side and decided to start as he had with the goblins. He would keep the story a bit more simple however, so that Harry could understand.
"Well, the first thing you need to know is that I'm not from around here," they all stared at him attentively, not interrupting and so he continued, "You see, I recently finished my fifth year at Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts?" the younger boy asked.
"It's a school for witchcraft and wizardry."
"That's a funny name," he wrinkled his nose.
"I suppose so, but all young witches and wizards get invited to go there."
"Even me?"
"Even you. You'll get a letter when you're eleven."
As the boy settled down, questions answered, he went back to his story.
"Anyway, near the end of the year a dark wizard sent me a false vision of my godfather being tortured in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic," his audience gasped in horror, "My friends and I went there to save him, not knowing that it was all false. Unfortunately it was a trap set by the dark wizard and there was a battle. Some older witches and wizards turned up to save us, including my godfather."
He paused, unable to continue. He felt a hand slip into his and glanced down in to worried green eyes. Appreciating the gesture, he smiled and found it in himself to continue.
"I won't go into detail about what happened. Just that my friends were hurt very badly and my godfather-" he choked, "My godfather died."
Harry's hand held his tighter and Libby and Tilly hiccoughed, looking teary eyed, as did Kell and Gully. He shook off those depressing thoughts, continuing on.
"Anyway, when the holidays came I went back home to my aunt and uncle who I had to live with. One day, I was going through my school trunk and I found something in my robe pocket. It was a time-turner. I think it must have dropped in there when we were battling in the Time Room at the Ministry."
He looked up and about at his audience. For the most part they all look confused. Only Kell seemed to know what a time-turner was as he was looking wide-eyed between the Potter boys, noticing the striking similarities. Deciding to fill the others in, he explained.
"A time-turner is a device that allows you to travel backwards in time."
"Like a time machine?" Harry looked very impressed.
"Kind of, except it looks like an hourglass and you have to hold onto it to get where you're going," the young boy nodded in understanding, "I decided I wanted to go back and stop myself from falling for the dark wizard's trick so no one would be hurt. Now what you have to understand is that my parents died when I was very young."
"Like mine?"
"Exactly like yours. So, instead of just wanting to go back a little way, I changed my mind and decided to go back to before my parents died and stop it from happening. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan."
Harry was listening in fascination, as were the elves.
"What happened?" Tilly asked breathily.
"Well, first I arrived at the wrong time – I didn't go back far enough. I don't know why, but I found out that I was years too late to save my parents. But, I realised I could still help my godfather. You see, my godfather was sent to jail for something he didn't do. So I decided to catch the person who actually did the crime so that he could be freed. But, when I went to find the bad man, he wasn't there."
"Where was he?"
"That's the very question I asked Harry. So, I went to the library and did some research. I found a very useful book on time travel and found some shocking information. It was all very complicated but it sums up to that a person cannot change the past."
"But then how is you here?" Libby spoke up for the first time.
"That exactly what I wondered, so I kept reading. In the end it had the answer. I not only travelled to another time but I also travelled to another dimension."
Silence followed this pronouncement as they all stared at him with mouths ajar. Finally, Harry broke it.
"So you're from another dimension," Evan nodded, "Wow!"
Kell was now staring at him in a calculating manner.
"You is Master Harry, isn't you?" he stated.
The other house-elves all looked surprised. Harry looked confused at the mention of his name. He glanced from Kell to Evan before his eyes widened. He had figured it out too.
"You're a future me. That's why your parents died too and you had to live with your uncle and aunt as well. And that's how you knew I was in the cupboard."
Evan nodded and the boy sat back in shock. He decided to go on and explained what had happened at Gringotts. About needing money and then finding out a way to save Harry from the Durseys.
"Things got a bit better after my Hogwarts letter because the Dursleys were afraid the wizards knew where I slept. It was still horrible though and I still remember how bad it was when I was little. There was no way I was going to let them keep you."
Harry's eyes became watery and his bottom lip began trembling. Evan held out his arms to the child and for the second time that day found himself with the little boy crying against his neck. He soothed him, rocking him back and forth. The house-elves watched on quietly but worriedly, not fully understanding what was wrong with their young Master.
Eventually the boy's cries trailed off and his breathing evened out. Looking down, Evan found that he had fallen asleep. He looked up at the house-elves whose eyes were alight with questions. Sighing he realised it would be best to explain the situation to them. And now, whilst Harry was asleep, seem an ideal time to do so.
And so, Evan went on to explain what life had been like for the two of them as children and what sort of people the Dursleys were. He also explained what Harry had meant by the cupboard reference.
The house-elves were horrified, especially the motherly Libby. Were it not for the fact that their 'littler Master' was sleeping he felt sure she would have wailed aloud at what they heard. As it was, they were all teary-eyed and Gully was patting the quietly sobbing Libby soothingly on the back.
Shifting Harry slightly to a more comfortable position, Evan suddenly let out a yawn. It was only early evening but he'd had an eventful last few days, not to mention only recently getting out of the hospital. He was quite tired. Libby of course noticed the yawn immediately and the next thing he knew the other elves had popped away and Tilly was leading him upstairs.
He was too tired to keep track of which stairs and halls he passed through, only able to take enough notice to tell the bed he had been directed to drop Harry off into was in a room adjacent his own. He quickly crawled beneath the covers on his own bed and soon after his head hit the pillows, he was fast asleep.
..ooOOoo..
– Mon, 8/2/1988 –
Evan awoke the next morning to unfamiliar surroundings. Confused, he looked around the room for some time before the memories of the previous evening filtered through to his conscious mind. Now wide awake and in the light of day, he jumped out of bed and looked about, taking in the details of his new room.
The bedroom was large and quite opulent. It was decorated in browns and teals, with bronze details. The bed was stood on a slightly raised platform and was a four-poster with chocolate coloured velvet drapes. Down from the platform there was a small sitting area with comfortable looking sofas and delicate coffee tables, etched with patterns of forest scenes, the etchings inlaid with bronze. Three doors led off from the room. The large one on the opposite wall he recalled led out to the hall. He assumed the smaller doors led to a closet and an en suite of some description.
Realising with some disgust that he had not bathed since the night before he left his own world, he decided to make use of the bathroom. Removing his trunk from where it still sat, miniaturised in his pocket, he tapped it with his wand to return it to normal size. Selecting an outfit to get changed into, he made a choice and headed for the door on the left. It seemed he had guessed right, as he found himself in the en suite. What he had not expected however, was the size of the room. It was easily the largest bathroom he had ever seen. It carried on the colour scheme of the bedroom and, with the marble floors, large sunken pool and many taps, it reminded him of an even grander version of the prefect's bathroom.
He spent some time fiddling with various taps, and ended up with a pool filled with white soapy bubbles as well as blue ones, the latter of which were scented with wood, fresh air and newly cut grass, bringing to mind the smell of quidditch. In the end he indulged in the warm perfumed water for a good half hour before climbing out, drying himself off and getting dressed. He would have stayed longer but he wanted to check in on Harry and see if he had awoken yet.
A few minutes later found him standing outside in the hall before the door he vaguely recalled leading to the younger boy's room. After a soft knock elicited no response he carefully opened the door and stepped inside.
The room he found himself in reminded him of his own. There were a few differences however, the most obvious being the colour scheme. Harry's room was done in dark blues and beige, with accents of silver. Another difference was that while it still looked quite stylish, it was simpler and less mature looking than his was – more of a child's bedroom. Also, in place of a sitting area was a clear floor space with wooden chests off to the side which Evan suspected were toy chests.
Focussing his attention on the raised bed, he climbed onto the platform and looked down at his young charge. The little boy slept soundly, one hand holding the blankets up under his chin and the other curled beside his face. Laying there in the centre of the huge bed, he looked even tinier than usual. Smiling fondly, Evan sat on the edge of the bed, reaching a hand out to brush the boy's hair out of his eyes. At the gesture Harry stirred, blinking sleepily up at him and looking adorably confused. As Evan brushed his hair from his face once more he seemed to wake up properly and looked up at the older boy shyly, his cheeks blushing slightly.
"Morning Harry, have a good sleep?"
"Good morning," the child smiled, "I had a great sleep. This is the softest bed I've ever been in!"
"I'm not surprised," he said sadly, remembering that he had spent the last years on a hard cot in a dark cupboard.
Harry must have realised the directions of his thoughts as his expression also fell. Wanting to make him smile again, Evan grinned cheerfully.
"Well, you'd best get used to it. This is your room from now on."
It worked better than expected as Harry's eyes became huge as he sat up quickly to inspect the room.
"But it's huge!" the boy exclaimed with a wide grin.
"Huge?" Evan pasted on a mock serious look, "Well, that won't do. You can't have a huge room," the little boy expressions almost turned disappointed before he continued, "You must have a hugemungous one!"
Harry burst into giggles.
"But this is hugemungous."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive," he gave a serious nod.
"Well, in that case, it's all your's," this earned him another smile, "Now, how about we head down and get some breakfast?"
They had rather a lot of fun trying to find their way to the dining room. In the end they got so lost in the large manor that they had to call for Tilly to come and show them the way. Fortunately, the young elf seemed to find their predicament as amusing as they did. And so, the three of them ended up walking happily through the halls, Harry telling the elf enthusiastically of the secret passage he had discovered behind a hanging tapestry.
Tilly it seemed was quite well informed of the secret ways, for which Evan was grateful. The younger boy had been thrilled at the find and was already talking about searching for some more. He had a feeling he would spend a lot of time in the months to come searching passageways for his charge when he got himself lost. It would be good to have the help of someone who knew their way around.
Finally they were led through two large double doors and into the dining room. Evan was not at all surprised at how fantastic the room looked. He rather suspected the same could be said for the whole of the house. Tilly led them to the head of the table where he was directed to sit, with Harry in the chair to his right, before she curtseyed and popped away. Harry looked about to ask a question when their end of the long table was suddenly filled with food. Having spent five years at Hogwarts this was par of the course for Evan. Harry however was both surprised and impressed, jumping a little in his seat and then staring at the food in awe.
"Where did the food come from?"
Evan looked up from the scone he was buttering, only just realising that the younger boy had been shocked by the arrival of breakfast.
"The kitchens; Libby would have set the food on a table similar to this one on the floor below. Then, she used magic to send it all up."
Harry was impressed and the older boy just knew he'd find him down in the kitchens sometime soon, questioning the motherly elf on how she had performed the magic. Just when the boy seemed about to eat something he paused. Confused, Evan asked him what was wrong.
"It's just, I wasn't sure if I was allowed any. I didn't even cook this morning."
He put down his scone and turned all his attention to the worrying boy, giving him a serious look.
"Harry, look at me. Now what you need to understand is that this isn't the Dursleys. Things are going to be different here. For one, I will never withhold food from you. You can always be expected to get at least three meals a day. And none of those tiny portions you're used to. I expect you to eat enough to fill you up, understood?" Harry nodded, his eyes wide, "Good. Also, you won't have to cook all the meals or do all the work. Mostly because it's not right to expect so much work from a child. And also partly because I'm sure the house-elves would rebel if you tried to take all their work away," he added the last with a grin.
"They really like work that much?" Harry asked, scrunching up his nose.
"Yes, for some strange reason they do."
"Oh. So I won't ever have to do any work."
"Well," he considered, "I think I'll negotiate with the elves for a few chores for you to do. We don't want you turning into a spoiled, fat layabout like Dudley do we?"
Harry shook his head rapidly from side to side.
"Oh, no. I never want to be like Dudley."
"Right, so we'll give you a few chores. Nothing too big though, okay?"
"Okay."
"Good, now help yourself to some breakfast."
..ooOOoo..
Harry and Evan spent the day exploring the Manor, stopping only for lunch. Harry in particular had a ball, racing about and discovering new passageways. After dinner that night, Evan called the house-elves together in the parlour with him and Harry for another meeting. He needed to explain his cover story to them all so that none of them gave him away.
"What can we do for Masters?" old Kell asked asked, after they were all seated.
"Well, the thing is I need for you all to keep something secret for me."
The house-elves, for whom keeping their masters secrets was considered a matter of honour, immediately began nodding their heads enthusiastically.
"Of course master!" Tilly said.
"Libby not saying a word."
"You tell Kell what secret is and he keeps it quiet."
"You can trust Gully."
He smiled thankfully and looked down at Harry who also nodded. Relieved, he began to explain.
"The thing is time travel without Ministry approval is illegal. As for dimensional travel, I don't know what they would do if they found out I wasn't from this world. Since I don't want to risk ending up in Azkaban, I need you all to keep how I got here a secret."
"Azkaban?"
"It's the wizarding prison."
Harry nodded. Then he looked thoughtful.
"But if we can't tell them the truth what can we tell them?"
The other elves looked at him, wondering the same.
"Well for that I have a cover story."
He explained to them the story he had come up with at the Library. The fact that he was to be the son of the lost Potter brother, as well as all the other intricate details he had come up with. The others listened attentively, committing the story to memory. As he finished his explanation they sat in silence for a moment.
"So Adam Potter was my dad's brother?" Harry asked, seeking clarification.
"Yes, Adam was James's older brother."
"So he would be my Uncle Adam. And you're pretending to be Uncle Adam's son, Evan. So, does that mean that we'll be cousins?" he looked up hopefully.
"Yes," he grinned, "But nothing like Cousin Dudley."
Harry smiled back, looking quite happy about the whole thing. The elves all reassured him that they would stick to the story from now on. Evan was reassured that no one here would give away his secret.
..ooOOoo..
Please Review
