Here After

by Kiamii

Chapter Ten "Spell Bound"

The Department of Mysteries was heavily known for harboring many secrets of magic, engaging in unknown battles, and figuring out the puzzling challenges given to them. Therefore, when the famous Auror Captain Harry Potter requested their service, they were immediate in responding. Harry was in his kitchen with Alex, the two eating breakfast, when an owl came through the window and dropped a letter next to the man. The former Boy-Who-Lived looked a bit surprised and after recognizing the crest from an Unspeakable he knew, he glanced at Alex who was eating the small cheerios with his hand, his legs slightly kicking happily.

Dear Mr. Potter,

After hearing of your request, we would be delighted to partake in the mystery that is now your adopted son, Alex Potter. If you would like, you can bring him down for testing and we can try to discover what spell was placed on the boy. Even though it has been a few months, there should be remains of it on his person.

From,

Terry Boot

Unspeakable

So Terry was still in that career? Good to know. Harry scourgified his son of any mess and lifted him up from his highchair, sitting him on his hip. After checking to make sure the one-year-old didn't need a change (thankfully the baby was dry), he accioed the baby bag and quickly told Ginny upstairs that he had to take Alex somewhere. He stepped in the floo and called out the words to the department that had been given to only him for specific things. He landed as gracefully as he could with a baby bag and a baby in his hands before finding himself in front of Terry. The man smiled knowingly at him and gestured for him to follow. Beside him was Christopher Losk, the father of one of James's friends.

"So the baby was found in an explosion in the muggle world?" Losk asked as Harry placed Alex down on the examination table while Terry got out a package of specifically crafted toys that were created to test the magical and intellectual ability of the baby. He undid the packaging and set the toys down beside the baby before, after asking Harry, began to undress the child of his clothes, leaving his nappy on at the very least. Alex whined at the process and blinked as he was dressed in small black robes that was tied with a ribbon around his waist. Looking at his father in confusion, he didn't notice that Terry was waving his wand around the lad.

Spells recorded.

Homigro.

Recuriuventa.

The two Unspeakables blinked in surprise while Harry simply looked confused. The men decided to test the theory and Terry set the crystal looking ball in front of Alex who looked at the clear object, baffled as to what he was supposed to do with it. All of his toys at home had some sort of purpose in how you played with them. This. It was just a ball. Alex picked it up and almost dropped it when it turned a yellow sort of color. Meanwhile Harry had recognized the ball and he allowed a small smile when the ball turned yellow. Red usually meant near squib, orange being average, and yellow being above average. Just like Harry when he had touched that ball back when he was 20.

"Your son will be a strong little guy," Terry commented, "though there is another case. First off, there were two spells place on him and both are impossible to tell when they will be able to be removed. The first spell, Homigro, is derived from the two Latin words Migro and Homo. In their respective order, they mean to depart and the world. The spell is a way of sending another to what is supposed to be their future, but could change if they know things they shouldn't. The second spell is recuriuventa which basically means to revert back to youth. Alex isn't really a baby in actual sense. I have no idea if he has his mind yet or not, but he will gain it once more as time goes on. The combination of the spells have made it to where he was sent to basically have a childhood. I'm guessing from the fact he's a younger you according to Ron's report, that because of the wars going on in the past, the spell sent him to the future. This spell can be dangerous. The spell was intended to cause pain to him by shrinking him out of existence apparently, but it shows that the spells were cast in sync, meaning two people had cast one spell each. The first spell was intended to send him away to safety I'm guessing, but the second spell was designed to kill him. Combining the two made him a baby. He'll probably grow up normally though, with a super intellectual mind. Think of Hermione if you want."

Harry's eyes widened as he listened to him explaining the finer details of the spells. So Alex wasn't the 1-year-old from his past, meaning he could have come from any point in time. He looked at the baby who was refusing to look at anyone and he wondered how old the boy was before this had happened. Nothing gave away that he wasn't a baby. Maybe he didn't have his mind yet? Harry decided to wait and see. He thanked the two unspeakables who were arguing over something about dimensions and grabbed his son, carrying him back to the fireplace. He flooed back to the house in time to see Ginny scolding James and Albus for a prank they had apparently played on someone.

"When your father gets home don't think I won't tell him," chastised Ginny.

"Tell me what?" Harry asked, amused, as he set Alex down on the floor and let the quiet baby toddle into the living room, probably to play with his toys. The fact that the spell had been designed to kill him and another was designed to keep him safe made Harry suspect Alex was between 11 to 17 when it happened. Or even in his twenties. He sighed and kissed his wife on the lips after listening to her explain how they had dumped paint on Lily in her sleep. He gave the usual "stern" talking to for her sake, but winked behind her back. After sending the two off to do what they wished, he swept his wife over to him and landed his lips on her own once more.

Ginny was taken by surprise by the very passionate kiss but responded to it in full before breaking apart. That was when Harry explained where he had been. He neglected the spells and the reasoning, but he told her he'd give her the full explanation in time. His wife accepted this warily before scuttling off to help Lily get rid of the paint. James and Albus were in the living room with Alex playing with his blocks. They were talking and Harry could just barely make out the words being said.

"Think dad ever wonders what happened to Alex before he found him?" James asked as he rolled a ball to Albus who passed it back. The two boys were laying on the stomachs in front of Alex, fiddling with one of Alex's rubber ball toys. Harry kept hidden slightly from view, listening.

"I think Alex was hurt really badly before then," Albus responded, looking at the baby who looked up at them at his words. The baby stared into the green eyes of his middle brother for the longest time before coming to his senses and crawling to the boy, tugging on his hair. Albus pulled away but the toddler stubbornly tried to grab another fistful of hair.

"Squirt just wanted to pull my hair," Albus grumbled though he allowed a grin to form on his face. The boys both loved giving Alex attention now that Albus discovered Alex had constantly pestered him before only to play with Albus. James was just glad Albus was getting over that ugly bitterness he had towards the baby. He sat up and looked at the two before shaking his head in amusement as Albus ended up tickling the baby. Alex lay on his back, giggling and trying to escape. Harry watched the scene with a smile before making his presence known.

"Having fun boys?" he asked as he entered and sat down between the two. His two eldest looked at him in surprise, knowing he hardly ever joined them in their silly games anymore since they had gotten older. Alex's eyes lit up and he crawled over to Harry who held out his hands, letting Alex hold onto them happily. James studied his father's solemn face and wondered where he had gone this morning, but he decided not to push it. Albus on the other hand, was a bit of lacking tact today it seemed.

"Why the long face dad?" Albus asked, ignoring James' pointed look to keep quiet. Harry sighed and picked Alex up, holding him on his lap. As he did so he grabbed the dummy on the end table nearby (they had a lot of these around the house for the baby) and placed it in the toddler's mouth. He couldn't find Babs anywhere surprisingly but he left it at that. He told the boys that it was only bad news he heard and he would tell them in due time. Both boys hesitated before accepting the answer. It had taken their father a long time before telling them about why their birthdays had been on the front page of the Daily Prophet, or when they went out in public they were swarmed by the news reporters all eager to get a statement from them. It hadn't prepared them much for Hogwarts, but they had been able to adapt to it all thankfully. Lily had yet to experience it, still attending her muggle school who had no idea that her father was more famous than being in her bedtime story books.

"Alex isn't going to leave us is he?" asked James hesitantly. Harry shook his head immediately, a small smile on his face as he handed the toddler one of his favorite interactive muggle toys. The baby sucked on his dummy, calm, and began to play with the toy as they talked. To all of the world, it looked like a normal baby happy in his daddy's lap, enjoying a toy. But now that Harry suspected he had his mind, he saw the baby slightly perking his head when they talked, as if listening. He couldn't be entirely sure if they baby had his older self's mind. And if he did? He decided he rather didn't care. Growing up he never had anyone to love him until he married Ginny where she loved him unconditionally and then came his children. Even if this child had the mind of a teenager or adult even, he'd be given a childhood if Harry had anything to say about it.

Author's Note: Wrote this one up right when I woke up this morning. I have like 30 minutes until work now so I won't be able to write anymore for a bit. I'll mainly be posting on weekends from now on thought from time to time I might be able to post in the middle of the week. This isn't a novel length story like Ring Child and Muddled Tears. I don't know how long this one will be though. Hope you like it and all. I felt it was time to explain the spell a little more and how it connects with the story. Bellatrix cast Recuriuventa while Snape had cast Homigro.

Also thanks to all my reviewers. It's encouraging me to write when I get them!

Kia.