Harry Potter: Divergent Paths

Chapter 10 – Final Message

A/N: Review question: Why would Adrian's clones ask him questions if they are just that, clones? It was just a nod on how Naruto's clones had a bit of personality sometimes in the anime/manga, and how they usually do in fanfics, while elemental clones did no such thing.

About the POVs, it'll cool down eventually, lessening to two main POVs, those being Adrian and Harry, but it's just sort of how I envision the universe. I feel like it's simply too large and has too many characters to only have a single person-focused perspective.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, but it sure would be cool too!

He let out a long sigh. Soon enough, the school year would begin. Another generation of dunderheads would be arriving and he, Severus Snape, would need to endure as he was forced to feel his brain cells deteriorate as he watched children butcher their attempts at his craft.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if he didn't have to maintain his silence towards the vermin that infested his very own House, much less the rats hidden in the other Houses.

He would never like children. That was something that would always stand true. But at the very least, he wouldn't be on-edge and drained from the thought of what he had to allow go on within the dungeons of the Snakes.

It was one of the reasons he snapped out at other Houses so much, one of the features of his teachings that had become notorious within Hogwarts students. He redirected his anger and frustration towards the dunderheads outside of his House, while he was forced to watch the smug expressions on the vile people within his own in silence. It was perhaps unfair, but one of the only ways he could cope. He could only aid the younger students so much before his hand was forced away, lest the children of the Dark families suspect anything. Lessons in the guise of 'detentions' in hopes that they would learn to defend themselves sufficiently, potions to prevent any 'adverse side-effects', as required. But no matter what he did, it would never lessen the guilt wracking his soul.

His facial muscles tightened, but he prevented any further physical reaction to his thoughts. It wouldn't do to make a mistake in the process of brewing the Calming Draughts he would need to make it through the year.

This was also the year that the Potter brat would finally grace the magical world with his presence. The thought of the child ignited a cold fire within his usually indifferent heart. It burned of simmering hatred towards half of the heritage within the boy. It burned of painful regret towards the better half of the child.

The old wizard had never told him exactly where the child was being raised. He only received vague answers whenever he attempted, such as "he is in good hands" or "he is where he will be best raised" from the manipulative goat. It irritated him to no end, but his own searches led to no result. He had no reason to believe the Boy-Who-Lived was receiving nothing but the best treatment.

He could only hope that his first impressions of the child would remind him not of his father, but his mother. If not, then it would be all the harder to watch out for the boy, especially if he was sorted into Gryffindor as he suspected would be the case. Regardless, he would try for Lily's sake. He failed to save her life from his former dark master, but he would not fail her son. He would not allow him to die in the upcoming turbulence. Not as he continued to live.

The door to his office opened. There was only one person who would open enter his domain with no forewarning. The other staff respected his wishes and space. So, when he looked up fully expecting the white beard of Albus Dumbledore in his sight, he was surprised. Not that the feeling made it to his face.

A child with black hair and piercing purple eyes was staring at him with an evaluating look in his eyes. Snape's expression settled back into his natural look of displeasure, but the child's gaze had moved on.

Adrian's eyes were darting around the potion master's workspace. His first look at the man wasn't any different than he'd expected from the memories that Mira had imparted upon him ever so gently. It was obvious that the man was quite dedicated to his work. The laboratory portion of his office was well-separated from the desk workspace, contained so that conditions for the potions and the various rising fumes would not spread into his living area.

The rest of the space did not reveal much about the man dressed in black before him. It was strangely neat. The way a room looked would always usually reflect back upon the individual inhabiting it in some way. It was as if he was purposefully suppressing something. He returned his gaze to the man watching him silently, evaluating him in turn. There was something about the potion master's eyes that seemed off to him. It was well-conceal, but he could feel the slightest traces of something.

"Sorry for intruding on your space Professor, but gramps sent me on ahead," Adrian started, dismissing the silence pervading the room. "We're going to visit a few places."

Snape's expression shifted ever so slightly as he evaluated the words. There was something strange about the child. "Dumbledore sent you here…? And who might you be?"

"My name is Adrian Vulpis. I'll be one of your students in the upcoming year," Adrian replied with a smile. "And I'm a friend of Harry and Iris Potter."

Confusion. That was the first thing he felt. "Who?" Snape responded instinctively. The name provoked him for a reason he couldn't explain. "Iris Potter?"

Adrian sighed internally. He'd suspected as much, but the upcoming situation sure wouldn't be fun. It was then that Dumbledore chose to catch up and step into the room behind him. The boy turned, quickly adapting to how the situation should play out.

"You never told him."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, having caught the tail-end of the small exchange. "No, I did not. I had thought it prudent to keep her existence hidden. Severus, Iris Potter is young Harry's sister. She will be attending school next year."

Snape registered the information. He looked at the Headmaster coolly, though his anger was quite apparent in his eyes. "Lily had another child?"

He idly noticed that the old man seemed different. He even visibly wilted at the receiving end of the man's biting tone. That didn't matter much to the man at the moment, however. The child was the one to answer.

"Yes, she did. I would put away your anger for now, Professor," Adrian said. "You might as well vent it all at the same time. I doubt you'll like much of what's soon to happen. However, you should realize that you aren't the only one who's been wronged." Adrian glanced back at the old man. "Do you know where Harry Potter has been raised until now?"

Snape bit back his anger for the moment. He looked at the child, who seemed to have more news for him. "No," he replied, glancing back at the Headmaster, "I do not. I could only assume that the little brat has been spoiled by whatever family he was received by…"

Adrian sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Petunia Dursley, formerly Evans. Dumbledore left him with Lily's non-magical, spiteful sister and her family for the last ten years." The boy could only thank that the timeline he was in seemed to have put Harry under less physical abuse for his years at the household, the worst being Dudley's bullying.

Snape was unsure what to think about that. He could only recall the venomous twig of a woman from the last time he had been to Lily's home, during the summer prior to his fifth year, before he drove Lily away. The woman had been downright nasty, but he didn't have a good gauge of how she might have been with what she must have known to be the child of her long-envied sister.

"You seem to have it within your mind that Harry's been spoiled within these last few years, Professor. Old man…it's time to show you one of the mistakes that you made. Professor, you'll come along, I suppose. You'll understand the request I'll make of you once you see. After that, we can get to the real purpose of why I came here. Kurama."

While he didn't particularly want to do this, he didn't see much of a choice. The old man really needed to see one of the errors he'd made. See what he had caused. And from the way the potion master had reacted, it seemed as if he was on track to bias himself against Harry just as he had in the memories he'd received from Mira. Well, he would soon see that they were actually more similar than he might expect.

It would make Adrian's request for growth and nutrient potions understandable. While he could have just waited until the school year for an examination from the resident Medi-Witch, it would be better if Harry could recover earlier, as it would help his natural growth progress more smoothly.

A red glow filled the room as Kurama yipped. Suddenly, the occupants vanished. This was the reason why Adrian had felt comfortable confronting Dumbledore in his office.

Kyoka had remained behind in the Potter Manor to guide Harry to the main room once he woke up from the exertion caused by resisting the soul piece lurking within his scar and Adrian's subsequent sealing of the piece of dark magic. The boy had passed out again shortly after Adrian introduced himself.

Kurama was present, however, because he had the ability to teleport instantaneously within his repertoire of skills.

And thusly, they were off to Privet Drive.

…..

Snape and Dumbledore were caught off-guard by the sudden teleportation. They felt themselves land suddenly and looked around. While the old man recognized the surroundings, the Potions Master found the plainness of the neighborhood somewhat disconcerting.

Adrian snapped, drawing their attention. "Follow me."

With nothing else to do, the two adults followed the child up to the door of a house. The boy gestured and the door swung open. Adrian knew the Dursleys weren't currently home, which had been indicated by the absence of their car. He also severely doubted they wouldn't want to leave for some time, considering how he'd tossed them around in their own home.

He approached the cupboard, which had been nailed over with some planks. Futile attempts by them to cover up the incriminating area. He had requested that Andromeda charm it shut when they had last been here to take Harry, so that the Dursleys wouldn't be able to get rid of the evidence, for when he later took action against them for their crimes. He had no doubt they would return, for the sake of keeping up their image and not wanting to give up the house.

He gestured and the planks flew off, revealing what was lying behind them.

"A cupboard?" Snape asked. Both he and Dumbledore had been watching the child with varying opinions as he performed wandless magic. Now however, he spoke up. "Why are you showing this to us?"

Adrian looked sadly at the door underneath the stairs before glancing at the two men with him. "Take a look for yourself."

Dumbledore moved forward first, hands shaking. While Snape was still trying to work his head around the entire situation, he had no such hindrance to his thought process. What was Adrian trying to show them? As the old man reached his hand forward, grasping onto the cold steel knob, the heart-wrenching thought solidified in his mind.

Harry's room.

Those were the words that greeted their eyes as he pulled the small cupboard door open, scrawled into the back wall of the cupboard. A small, dirty mattress and blanket sat against the wall. A small shelf on the wall near the head of the mattress held small, broken figurines and a box of other small baubles. The upper shelf was occupied by a small bundle of clothing and some small scraps of paper.

An unhealthy stench emanated from the room. Spiders and cobwebs occupied the corners of the room, skittering about. A small drawing lay near the head of the mattress. It was a stick drawing, of a small boy with disheveled hair, glasses, and a lightning bolt-shaped scar, holding hands with two nondescript, larger stick figures. Underneath that drawing were a couple lines of text, with only the most recent not crossed out.

Happy tenth birthday, me!

Dumbledore stumbled backwards against the wall, blood drained from his face and unable to support himself at the moment. He looked older than he ever had before in that moment. Snape's visage had turned even paler than he was before and looked as if he was going to be sick.

Adrian clenched his hands till his knuckles turned white. Sometimes it felt as if he was looking into a mirror of what could have been.

He's awake. Taking him to the others.

He unconsciously turned his head in the direction of Kyoka. Harry wouldn't be alone from now on. He had friends now, ready to help from the get-go. Never again.

…..

He woke with a groan, but, for the first time he could ever remember, woke comfortably. He reached his hands around, feeling for his glasses but found only empty air. He heard a soft thump and suddenly something was pressing down on his lap. He reached forward and met the frames of his glasses. Once he put them on, he was surprised by the first thing he saw.

The first and cutest fox he had ever seen was sitting and staring at him with its crystal blue eyes.

"Um…hi there?"

"Hi."

He would have been lying if he said he'd been expecting an answer. He nearly upturned the fox off of the bed when he jolted in shock at the response. It jumped up in mid-air and landed safely on the edge of the bed, swishing its tail around and smiling – could foxes smile? – at him. Harry stared at it for a few moments. He idly wondered if he was imagining it.

"I'm not a figment of your imagination," said the same calm, clear voice that he heard a moment ago. While the fox's mouth wasn't moving, he could tell the voice was coming from it. "Oh, that must have been quite confusing. You don't see my mouth moving because I'm speaking directly into your mind."

"Can you…can you read my mind? And how are you doing that?"Harry asked, curious but confused. As far as he knew, animals couldn't speak.

"Because of magic. You are a wizard and I'm a magical creature. Haven't you ever had strange things happen around you before? Like turning someone's hair a different color or done something you didn't think you could?"

Suddenly, Harry was reminded of the times he had turned a teacher's hair blue when they were being unfair to him or when he was suddenly on top of the school when Dudley and his gang had been chasing him during break time.

"But how could I be a wizard? I'm just Harry…" he said, putting his head down slightly.

Soft laughter brought his head up. "You are far more than that, Harry. Come on, follow me. There's people you'll want to see. They've been trying to find you for a long time."

The fox jumped off the bed and walked out through the door, without giving him a chance to respond. He quickly got out of the bed and followed. As he did, he noticed he had been changed into red and black pajamas with an emblem on the top-left of the chest. It was a P in gold and red enclosed in between two mythical and majestic creatures that he didn't recognize.

He followed quickly behind the swift white fox, walking through beautiful halls of varnished wood. Paintings of beautiful landscapes adorned the walls, but he didn't get the chance to take in everything as he chased after his guide. Soon enough, he could see a light up ahead. He heard a voice as the white fox disappeared into the room.

"A fox? Is that Adrian's? It's so cute!"

His heart pumped and his pace quickened as he heard the voice. He hurried into the room. The change in lighting blinded him for a moment, but when it returned, he saw her. A girl with red hair and emerald eyes looking at him in surprise, the white fox in her arms.

Iris froze when she saw the boy with messy black hair and emerald eye hurry into the room. Her heart stopped for a moment before she moved. She dropped the white fox and ran forward.

"Harry!"

When she reached him, she pulled him into a hug, grasping onto him as if he wasn't real. However, she quickly realized that he had frozen up. Iris released him and looked at him, seeing a look of discomfort on his face. It saddened her, but she realized he would need time to heal.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, thankful that he had been released.

"I'm Iris Potter," she said, now standing in front of him unsteadily, nervously. "I'm your big sister."

At this, he wasn't quite sure what to think. His expressions shifted a couple of times before he settled on a frown. He struggled for a few moments before settling on his first question. He stared her full in the eyes before his words came out desperately. "Why didn't you come for me sooner? Did mom and dad not want me?"

"No!" she replied frantically, eyes widened. "No, that wasn't it! Our…our parents are dead, Harry. I didn't even know you existed until a day ago…I thought I was alone too…"

As this point, Iris had fully integrated into the world. The girl who had lived at a magical orphanage with her friend, Adrian Vulpis. From the first place, she had never come into the world with information that would have been particularly relevant towards the future in the first place. Lily Potter had sacrificed her life to save her son and then her personality to give her son a sister to be at his side. Only Adrian remained cognizant of the whole truth now, after some further changes by Mira to make the world proceed more smoothly.

Andromeda and Narcissa walked over, joining the two children. The elder Black sister spoke first. "My name is Andromeda Tonks and I was a good friend of your mother. After she and your father passed away, I looked for you to see if you were safe, but I could never find you because of some people getting in the way with magic. I never even knew that Lily and James gave birth to Iris, your sister…"

"Lily and James…" Harry muttered, as if burning the names to his memory. "Who were they, my parents I mean? Aunt Petunia always said that my dad was drunk and that they died in a car crash…but…that's not true, is it?" he asked, desperately hoping it wouldn't be the truth.

Narcissa shook her head and pulled Harry into a gentle hug. While he froze up slightly at first, there was something about her that relaxed him. "Your mother was Lily Rose Potter, one of the brightest witches of our generation. She was a brilliant Charms Mistress. Your father was James Charlus Potter, likewise a brilliant wizard and a Transfiguration prodigy. They died to protect you from an evil man. They loved you so much that they were willing to give their lives to keep you safe."

The words warmed up Harry's heart, but at the same time, bit him coldly. They died for him…

"You aren't to blame." The fox's voice cut through before he could wander further along that train of thought. "There's nobody to blame for their deaths but the man who caused them himself. You were just a baby. How could it possibly be your fault?"

"Kyoka is right, you know. You can't blame yourself for the actions of an individual you never even knew," another voice said. He had a name for the fox now. Kyoka.

Narcissa let go of Harry so he could turn and see who had just spoken. Black hair, purple eyes. It was Adrian, the boy who had greeted him when he had woken up earlier, before he'd passed out again. The white fox yipped and hopped over, magically scaling the boy until she perched onto his free shoulder, the other being occupied by a red fox.

Walking next to him were two men, one old man dressed in strangely flamboyant robes and the other younger with slick black hair in pure black robes. The old man was looking at him with an expression of guilt. The other, however, was staring off to his side.

Adrian noticed Andromeda, Narcissa, and Iris tense up in anger as they saw Dumbledore approaching.

"…Lily…?" he heard Snape mutter from his side. He glanced over and watched the Potions Master hesitate for a moment before gathering himself. "No…her daughter."

Adrian smiled internally as he heard the firmness in the man's last words. His mental fortitude was to be admired, but that was to be expected from the man who had been able to maintain his cover within Lord Voldemort's inner circle as a loyal Death Eater, he mused. He didn't quite believe that the man was completely over this development, but he was able to put it aside for the moment, which was good.

"You seem to have been busy while you were gone, Adrian," Narcissa remarked as she locked eyes with Snape and nodded. "Severus."

"Narcissa… This was not when I imagined next seeing you," he droned. "Why are you here?"

"To regain my freedom," Narcissa replied with a small smile. "And you?"

Snape scoffed and glanced at the boy next to him. "I'm not quite sure. The child hasn't yet told me…"

Adrian shrugged and walked forward. "To show you the Last Will of Lily and James Potter. They left a message for you, Severus Snape," he said, stopping in front of Harry and looking him in the eyes with a smile. "And of course, the main message for you and Iris."

Adrian walked back to the middle of the room and reached into his pocket, extracting a small pyramid. "This is the Last Will of Lily Rose Potter née Evans and James Charlus Potter. Their final message. It's not quite a complete will, but…well, you'll see."

He placed it on the ground and held his hand on the construct. He clicked his teeth slightly as he felt the device drain away a good chunk of his magic to power itself. The device was a marvel, but its technical curiosities would have to be analyzed at a later point.

The device opened up and magical light rose, forming itself into two individual figures. One was a handsome man with sharp, roguish features, a messy black mop of hair, and hazel eyes with a weary smile on his face. The other was a beautiful woman with long, red hair and brilliant green eyes, who was doing her best to stay positive.

James and Lily Potter. Sharp intakes of breath could be heard around the room. Harry unconsciously stepped forward, mouth slightly agape as he burned the image of his parents into his mind. It was his first time seeing them. They seemed as they were standing right there.

"How exactly is this supposed to work?" Lily asked, glancing at James.

He simply scratched his head and shrugged. "I have no idea. Dad was supposed to teach me, but, well…"

She nodded and laid a hand on his shoulder. He smiled thankfully, but it wasn't quite enough to stop the pain.

"Well, it's fine. We don't have much time to make this anyway. Lily, did you want to start?"

"Sure," she said with a smile. "The first part of this message is for Severus Snape."

She stopped for a few moments, gathering her thoughts. "We know. That you were the one who told Voldemort the prophecy, the thing that's made us and the Longbottoms go into hiding. It's a shame. We know that you didn't know it meant us. You might be blaming yourself if we did end up losing out against Voldemort but…we forgive you. You could never have known that it would be our child that would be one of the potential children of the prophecy.

I know that, even with what you said to me that year, you never really meant it. It's a bit too late for that now though, huh?" She smiled sadly. "Sev, I wanted you to know that I forgive you for that year. I wanted to forgive you a long time ago, but…I never got the chance. I really wish you had been there for my wedding, you know. You were, you are still one of my best friends, even with everything that happened. I hope that you forgive me, for never coming back to you. Maybe, if I had reached out to you again, lent you that hand when you really needed it, none of this would have ever happened. No matter what happens, I just wanted to make sure you knew…I don't blame you for anything. And I really did miss you."

A few tears dripped down Lily's face. James held her hand in comfort and spoke up. "Severus. You and I've never been on the best of terms. Mostly, I just wanted to say…I'm sorry for being a downright prat to you for all those years. There's no excuse for what I did. Though," he chuckled, "you really learned how to give right back in those later years, didn't you? I deserved it too. I've really not much else to say to you, I guess. I didn't really know you as well as Lily did. I just…I just hope that, if we die, and Harry lives, that you don't begrudge him for what I put you through. And I hope that you'll be there for him…and his sister. We asked Dumbledore to make sure she was safe. The only way was to hide her from everybody. By the time you see this will, she should be fine. Please, keep an eye on them for us. If not for me, then for Lily."

The projection blurred for a few moments. Soon enough, it returned. Lily and James were back with smiles again, though it was obvious that the recording was taken a few moments after the previous one. Lily had taken a moment to wipe her tears away.

"Iris. Harry. I hope you two have been doing all right," James started with a smile. "If everything's gone as planned, then you'll have both been with Sirius Black, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Andromeda and Theodore Tonks, or Edward and Diane Greengrass for the most of your life up to now. I'm sure you've heard about us, but, it can't hurt to do it just in case I guess. My name is James Charlus Potter and I'm your proud father. It feels like just the other day when you two bundles of joy came into the world. Merlin knows we needed it," he chuckled. "I worked as an Auror for a time after graduating from Hogwarts, until…well, extenuating circumstances came up… I was a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and was quite the prodigy in Transfigurations, according to Professor McGonagall. Hopefully one of you two will take after me in that aspect. I guess it didn't help much in the end, if you end up seeing this though…"

A gleaming tear dropped to the ground. He covered his face with a hand, shoulders shaking.

"Man…I really wish we would've been there to see you two grow up, you know? There's so much we missed…I wish we had more time…"

"James…"

The two figures spoke between themselves for a short time. The audio wasn't caught by the recording. Soon enough, Lily become audible.

"Iris, Harry, I'm your mother, Lily Rose Potter. I earned my license as a Charms Mistress as I graduated from Hogwarts with my NEWTs. I had been working on the adaptation of non-magical technology into the magical world as a project before the war erupted… There's just so much to say and so little time," she said with a sad smile. "This recording is actually on a result of my projects. Taking the idea of projectors and trying to incorporate it into the magical world, I asked for the goblins to provide some materials that would function with the runes and enchantments I would need to place on it. It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" The models fizzled out once more, returning with Lily and James looking significantly more worried. "We're running out of time. I guess I won't be able to regale you with tales of how much of a prat your father used to be," she laughed.

James chuckled and rubbed his head. It wasn't until they stopped that they returned their gazes to the front, eyes softened. "But, there's one last thing to say at least, the most important thing we need to say."

"We love you," they said in unison, James joining in.

"We really, absolutely do love you. If we had to sacrifice our lives to save yours, the lives of our precious babies, then it was absolutely worth it. Iris, take care of Harry, ok? You're the big sister, you need to step it up for your little brother, all right?" Lily said with a smile.

"Harry, you had better stand up for your sister, all right?" James laughed. "You might be the younger one, but you're the man of the household. You had better beat off the boys with your broom if you have to!"

"Iris, Harry, we love you so, so much. Live your lives to the fullest. Don't let anyone stop you," they said in unison. "We'll always be watching over you. Goodbye."

The message cut out.

Adrian took a look around, wiping away a stream of tears that had slid down his face. The message had brought back some memories of another time.

Iris, Harry, Andromeda, and Narcissa were in varying states of distress. Dumbledore was silently weeping. Snape was the only one not crying, but he quite obviously needed some time alone to think.

So, Adrian spoke up. "I think we all need some time to rest and think now. It's been a long day. Harry, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I think they would be best answered tomorrow, once we've all had some sleep. Andromeda, Narcissa, Iris, would you like to share a room for the night?"

Iris nodded slightly, wiping away some tears. "If you two don't mind, that would be nice…"

Andromeda and Narcissa gave their consent and the three females were off, teleported away by Kurama.

"Headmaster, Professor. Shall we continue this again at some later time?"

Both men nodded in acknowledgement and were returned to their offices by Kurama.

Adrian and Harry were the only ones left. "You want to bunk with me for the night, Harry? I have a room with two beds set up, so we can room together if you'd like."

"Sure," he eventually responded, in between sniffles," That would be nice."

…..

A/N: Sorry for the confusion on the last A/N. The chapter was supposed to be today, Sunday, since the last was posted on Friday, but I had mistakenly said that it would be on Saturday. Woops!

Adrian finished setting up a few things for the future and finally made his way back to the Potter Manor with Dumbledore and Snape in tow.

My Potter Will was made, as insinuated, incomplete due to the death of James's parents during the war. Considering his behavior, I believe it would be fair to say that his parents didn't quite get around to teaching him that aspect due to his own immaturity and not expecting that he'd need it. As a result, a much more concise and personal will.

It really is a shame, that the Potters lived such a short life in perspective. They were 21 years old. There was so much more to the future for them, but their lives were ended so early. While they might have been adults, they were only so for such a short time. I think that the Will they left behind in my story was an accurate representation of the Lily and James Potter I envisioned, grown, but still ultimately drained and distraught from both the situation and needing to leave a message for their children.

I do hope that I wrote the intended feelings in this chapter satisfactorily! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and had a great weekend (and better weekend if you guys actually get President's Day off…I don't :c). Review if you think something was strange (:?) or something was great (:D)!

One last thing. Thank you very much for following and/or enjoying my story up to now. Hitting 100 followers and being one off from 100 favorites brings just an unimaginable feeling of gratefulness and motivation to me. Thank you and I will do my best to continue putting out content that satisfies. Cheers!