A Rewritten Life
by Yih

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and am making no profit from this whatsoever. Also there are no spoilers about HBP on this. In the future I may incorporate them, but that won't be for a good while.

Chapter Ten
Who You Are

Harry knew about the story of why he was at Hogwarts with Albus and Minerva and Remus and why they weren't his blood family, but his family despite that lack. His parents had died when he was a baby and Albus and Minerva had adopted him and then of course, Remus had been invited to Hogwarts to be his special tutor. So he didn't understand why the three of them were sitting in front of him, looking very unlike themselves—Minerva's lips were pressed together, Remus was fidgeting with his hands, and Albus' eyes were dull—and telling him they needed to tell him the truth about his parents.

"Harry," Albus began in a tired voice, "you know your parents are dead, but not the reason they are gone…" Minerva's lips were like a thin line and Harry didn't think she could hold her mouth shut anymore without making her lips disappear. "They were killed by Voldemort." Minerva visibly flinched and Harry blinked, his gaze shifting between them before settling on Albus. "And when he tried to kill you with the Killing Curse, it gave you that unusual scar on your forehead."

Harry automatically reached up and touched the scar on his forehead. He had just thought it was something he'd gotten when he was a baby when he'd been reckless. He had never thought it came from… something like that. A curse scar. But while those were rare, his was impossible. "Then why am I here?" Harry asked. "If it was the Killing Curse, it should have killed me."

"Love," Albus said firmly, "your parents loved you so much that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for you and I believe that this pure love a parent has for a child is what protected you from the Unforgivable."

"But that's impossible," Harry said. "Nothing can reflect an Unforgivable, that's why they're unforgivable."

"But somehow you did," Albus said, leaning forward and smiling a bit. "I have always told you, you were special and that is why. You are the only one who has survived that particular curse."

Harry didn't know if he really wanted to believe what Albus was telling him, but the fact neither Minerva nor Remus were saying anything and that they were here told him that what Albus was telling him was very important and true. Besides, Albus wouldn't lie to him. Harry took a deep breath, still not wanting to believe he was special because of that. But whatever, that wasn't important.

"To the outside world," Albus continued, "you are known as the Boy Who Lived and you are famous because of that, like Nicholas Flamel is for the Philosopher's Stone."

Harry stared at Albus, not quite knowing how to react to that kind comparison. It seemed ludicrous to him when Flamel had invented the extraordinary, but then he supposed not anyone could survive a Killing Curse. Still it was a rather silly reason to be famous, especially when it wasn't him, it was his parents. "But that's stupid," he said and felt all three of them look at him. "I didn't do anything special to deserve it. That was my… parents."

It felt weird now to know something like this about his parents. They had never been around and Harry had never really felt their presence in his life. He just knew he had to have parents or else he wouldn't exist. But they weren't really his family like Albus, Minerva, and Remus were. They were just something in the past and yet suddenly they were very present and Harry didn't quite know how to deal with it.

"It's okay to cry," Minerva whispered. "I can't imagine what it would be like to have lost your parents at such a young age."

Harry didn't feel like crying, he didn't. It wasn't like he knew his parents—as anything more than his parents—he didn't know them. It was just… maybe he did feel something now, knowing they just didn't die by accident. They died protecting him. They loved him, like Remus and Minerva and Albus did. That was something and Harry felt like he should want to cry and yet he couldn't.

"Your parents would have been very proud of you," Remus declared. "I know I am."

Harry smiled a little, knowing that Remus didn't usually go saying things like this unless he truly meant them. Of course, Harry knew that Remus felt that way—he could feel it in the way Remus acted around him when he did a good job—but it was still nice to be told that. Somehow saying it in actual words made it seem more real, even when Harry knew it was there.

Albus cleared his throat and Harry shifted his attention back to him, sitting up straighter knowing that Albus was about to get to the real point of why this was happening. "I should have told you this earlier, but I didn't want you to grow up with the burden of people's belief that you are a savior. But that is what they believe, that you are a hero and you will be treated differently because of what happened when you were a baby."

Harry stared at Albus and opened his mouth to speak, yet no words came out. "The students will look to you as an example, you will be important regardless that it happened years ago because of who Voldemort was." Albus glanced over at Remus. "I trust you know about that part of history."

Yes, Harry knew about Voldemort's regime and how bad the outlook was for the wizarding world until his unexpected demise. Of course, Harry had never thought to connect the Potters to him… because… because… oh Merlin!

"I'm Harry Potter," he said slowly, wondering why he hadn't thought about that when Albus had first told him he had survived the Killing Curse. Harry guessed he was just too overtaken by that bit of information to connect the story he had heard about the Potter boy and the strange circumstances surrounding Voldemort's death, how a baby had survived the most unforgivable of Unforgivables. "I am that Harry Potter." He looked at Albus, Minerva, and Remus. "Aren't I?"

They all nodded slowly and it suddenly hit Harry just how famous he was because he had read about him in a lot of history books. Harry knew if he hadn't already been sitting, he would have fallen. He felt numb and he didn't know what to do. It was like he didn't know who he was anymore.

Albus took a deep breath and said, "We wanted you to have a normal childhood and we're sorry… if we've hurt you by keeping this a secret."

Harry wanted to say that it was okay, but he couldn't… because it wasn't.

-

Minerva still remembered the long ago conversation she and Albus had had when Harry had first started asking questions about who he was. Albus had thought it was wise not let a young Harry know too much about the past, not wanting to burden him, and Minerva had agreed. After all, a young boy didn't need to know that his parents had been murdered because of a prophecy that might not have even come true. Looking back though, maybe they should have told him before today and they still hadn't told him everything yet. Minerva looked at Remus and then at the cups of tea that were growing cold between them. Merlin help Albus, she thought, he was still in there with Harry and doing his best to explain why they had done what they had done.

"Do you think what we did was right?" Minerva asked.

Remus shrugged. "Doesn't matter if we think it's right if he thinks it's wrong."

"Remus…"

"I think we did the best we could by keeping that a secret. It would have only given him a weight on his shoulders that he didn't need at that age, but it also kept him far too innocent of the world and I believe we should have told him much sooner than we did. It's only a week before he starts Hogwarts and we've thrown far too much at him in such a small amount of time."

Minerva took her cup of tea, trying to keep her hand steady, as she drank the lukewarm liquid, hoping that everything would be okay.

-

It was in time like these that Albus really wished that the burden of decision did not rest on his back, but he had made the choice to keep Harry sheltered from the truth—to the degree that Harry hadn't even known he was Harry Potter. He didn't regret it, he just wish there had been a way to allow Harry to be a child and yet also not keep him from knowing the destiny Voldemort had set into action when he had decided to interpret the prophecy to regard the Potters… in particular, Harry Potter.

"There is more, of course," Albus began. "Do you know why Voldemort chose to go to Godric's Hollow?"

Harry shook his head. "It just said… the books that is, the history I've read, is that there was speculation it was because the Potters were such staunch supporters of the Light and were so strong in magic, that's why he targeted them."

"In part, that was the reason he chose them, but the reason he even thought of them was because of a prophecy that told him that there would be a child born to parents who had thrice defied him who would defeat him if he did not defeat that child," Albus said. "There was another family and another boy who could have fit the prophecy, but Voldemort chose your family because of how strong your mother and father were and the possibility that you would be just as strong and when he marked you with that," Albus touched Harry's scar before continuing, "he limited the prophecy to mean only you and him."

"And—"

"And because of that, I was the only one who could have destroyed him," Harry finished. "I understand. You don't have to say anything more. I mean, it's a nice thought and everything, but I was just a baby. You even think it was my… parents that did the extraordinary. I'm nothing special."

"You might not think you are, but others will and of course, I do as well, not for that reason, but because I have seen you grow up to be a thoughtful, intelligent, and caring young man," Albus said. "And you need to know how other will look at you and react to you so you won't be surprise when it happens. They will expect great things out of you."

"But what if I only want to be ordinary?" Harry's voice sounded so hopeful, so young that Albus wished that he wasn't about to start his first year at Hogwarts, if only they could go back in time and slow the clock, but they couldn't.

"Then, if that is what you want to be, then be ordinary," Albus said, even though in his heart he wanted Harry to be as extraordinary as possible and in his mind, he didn't think Harry could be anything except someone special.

-

"I don't want to be different," Harry said. Harry was sitting on Remus' lap, leaning against him like he often did when he was a younger boy and even nowadays when he needed to be comforted. "I just want to be normal."

"Everyone wants to be normal, to fit in," Remus whispered and swallowed hard. "But…"

"But?" Harry asked.

"But we can't always do that."

Harry tightened his grip on Remus' robes. "I wish…"

"What?"

"I wish that—I don't know." Harry sighed and slumped more against Remus. "I don't know anything anymore. I don't even know who I am. Am I just Harry? Like I've always been or am I this Harry Potter boy who I've read so much about and… and… don't know at all?"

"You are Harry," Remus declared firmly. "It doesn't matter what happens. It doesn't matter what house you're sorted into, how others will treat you, as long as you remain true to yourself, you will know who you are."

"And if I don't?"

"I hope that doesn't ever happen." Remus hugged Harry close to him and kissed his cheek. "And I hope that you will be happy and that you will pursue happiness despite anything that everyone expects from you. Just be true to yourself and you can't go wrong. You are a brilliant, caring, and perceptive young man. I trust that you will do what is right."

"I hope," Harry whispered. "I hope so."

TBC

Author's Note: Uh yeah, the next chapter will be the sorting. I just needed to get this out of the way. There's also a forum on that I've started for ARL on fanfiction(dot)net. The link is located in my author's profile. Please keep reviewing, it means a lot to me!