Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not unfortunately belong to me but to J.K Rowling

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

THE REVEAL

"Unbelievable!" Sirius thundered angrily as he clutched a piece of parchment tightly in his hand.

"Calm down, Padfoot!" Remus said gently. "You're going to wake up the boys".

"Too late" Harry said groggily, rubbing his eyes as he made his way down the stairs with Lucas in tow.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked as he yawned.

"This letter is what is going on" Sirius answered as he waved the parchment in the air.

"Clearly, Padfoot is not ready to explain so I will" Remus began with a sigh as he turned towards the boys. "Dumbledore sent a letter to us suggesting an alliance".

"Oh, we heard about that from Neville" Lucas piped up from behind Harry.

"Why didn't you tell us, Harry?" Sirius asked his son.

"I didn't because Neville had gotten the information from a friend. But the friend had not gotten the full details, so I did not want to give you an information that was not fully clear" Harry answered, yawning as he made his way to a couch.

"So how exactly is Dumbledore suggesting going about this aforementioned alliance?" Lucas asked as he joined his best friend on the couch.

"Well, he didn't explain in much detail except that he is willing to meet up with us to come to some sort of arrangement" Remus replied as he also made his way to settle on a couch across from the boys.

"Do you think it is maybe another plot to get to Harry?" Lucas asked, casting a worried look towards his best friend who was staying suspiciously quiet with a pensive look.

"It could be…" Sirius began but was cut off when Harry got up abruptly.

"I think we should meet with him" Harry said.

"What?!" Sirius and Remus yelled out simultaneously.

"Hear me out" Harry began as he started to pace. "We know if not now, eventually we are going to get dragged into this war. And like Mad-Eye Moody had once said, we are, especially me, smack right in the middle of it."

He paused as he looked to his guardians and best friend for any opposition. When he got none, he continued.

"We don't have to trust Dumbledore, but we do need all the help we can get to put a stop to Voldemort".

With a deep sigh, Sirius walked up to his godson and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"It sucks when your child is all grown up and making really smart decisions that I can't argue against."

With a laugh, Remus got up and threw an arm around his friend's neck.

"Deal with it, Padfoot.

With another resigned sigh, Sirius replied "Moony, I guess we have to reply and set a date to meet the old git".

As Sirius and Remus headed towards the library, Lucas turned to Harry with a raised brow.

"What now?" Harry asked with a questioning look.

"Don't you think if you are going to be showing yourself to Dumbledore of all people, Neville should know who you are?" Lucas said as he folded his arms across his chest.

With a smirk, Harry replied "What makes you think Dumbledore is going to see my real face?"

Sighing exasperatedly, Lucas groaned "Harry! He should know…he's our friend".

"Ok fine!" Harry answered before getting to his feet as he began to make his way out of the living room.

"Where are you going?" his friend yelled after him.

"I have to eat first, don't I?" Harry rolled his eyes.


"It feels like we haven't hung out together in a while" Ron said as he flopped down on Neville's bed.

"That's because we haven't" Neville answered with a roll of his eyes.

"You seemed surprised when we arrived" Hermione said softly as she perched on the edge of the bed. "I guess you hadn't been aware that your Nan had invited us over, did you?"

"I wasn't but it's alright" Neville answered as he grabbed a pillow and tossed it at Ron. "I didn't think that she'd notice that we haven't been hanging out, but I guess she did".

Just then, they heard his nan call out for them to come down to eat lunch.

As they settled down to eat, his grandmother began "Neville, I was going to invite those two sweet boys you were talking to the last time we visited Diagon Alley, but I couldn't remember their names".

"Oh, that's alright Nan" Neville answered, silently trying to telepathically tell his Nan to stop talking by widening his eyes. Either it did not work, or she was ignoring him because she kept on going.

"Oh, by the way, one of them sent you a letter earlier this morning. I forgot to give it to you, here you go" she continued as she leaned over to hand him an envelope addressed to him.

He quickly took it and stuffed it in his pocket as he tried to ignore the questioning and curious looks being thrown his way by his friends.

"Do you two know them?" his grandmother turned to his friends, oblivious to the awkward silence.

"No, ma'am" Hermione answered, still casting furtive looks at Neville while he studiously ignored her stare, paying way too much attention to the food in front of him.

"Why is that Neville?" his grandmother asked, frowning in confusion. "I thought they attended Hogwarts".

"No, they go to a different school, Nan".

Later after lunch, the trio sat in Neville's room in an awkward silence.

"So, I guess we now know what you had been up to during this summer holiday" Ron began, as he leaned back against the chair he sat on.

"Yeah, and so what?" Neville replied, defiantly as he folded his arms over his chest. He owed them no explanation.

Realising his friend had taken a defensive tone, Ron replied "N-no, I didn't mean anything by it."

He ran his hand through his hair as he struggled to explain. "I had just been wondering what you had been up to throughout the summer".

"Oh, ok" Neville answered with a roll of his eyes.

"They go to different school?" Hermione said softly, almost as if she was talking to herself.

Neville knew she was trying to mull it over in her head who the two boys his grandmother had been talking about were. He knew she had figured it out the minute she gasped audibly.

"Merlin's Beard! Was your nan talking about those two boys that we had met in Diagon Alley when we ran into Professor Lupin?"

"No way!" Ron bolted up from his seat upon hearing Hermione's question. "You have been hanging out with those blokes?"

"Yeah, I have" Neville answered with a soft smile. "They are really cool guys actually".

Ron eyed his friend bitterly, not at all happy at the thought of being replaced by those two guys who they had briefly met in Diagon Alley. He did not even have to be told, to know that they were cool, especially the dark haired one who managed to both be friendly and exude an air of polite indifference at the same time.

"Do you mind me asking how you became friends with them" Hermione asked. She still could not wrap her head around the fact that Neville is friends with the dark-haired boy she seemed to get tongue-tied around.

"Actually, the day we met them, they had promised to invite me over to hang out and the rest is history" Neville said, ignoring the envious looks on their faces. He knew the boys were quite fascinating to the duo and the fact that he was friends with them while cutting ties with the duo is enough to justify the envious behaviour.

After the duo took their leave, he breathed a sigh a relief as he fetched the letter that James had sent to him. As he made his way through the letter, he frowned, wondering what was so urgent that James had asked him to come over to visit the next day.


"Are you nervous, Harry?" Lucas asked as he nudged his best friend with his feet.

"Quit hitting me with your stinky feet, you weirdo" Harry threw a pillow at his friend as they began to kick each other. After Lucas fell off the bed, causing him to laugh, Harry leaned back against the headboard before replying. "No, I am not nervous. I am glad that we won't have to lie to him anymore".

Just then, Remus walked into bedroom, adjusting his collar as he did.

"Hey pup, I have got a date with Tonks in an hour, how do I look?" he asked as he slowly turned around for them to scrutinise.

Lucas let out a low whistle, while Harry grinned.

"You look great, Moony" Sirius said as he made his way into the room. "I've also got a date with Jen, why don't we make it a double date?"

"Maybe next time Padfoot…she had been away on an Order assignment for almost three months and this is the first time in a while we get to spend any time together" Remus replied as he shrugged on his jacket.

"Oh, that's understandable" Sirius said before turning to the boys. "Is Neville still coming over today?".

"Yup!" Lucas nodded his head.

"You are still going to reveal your identity to him then?" Remus asked Harry.

"Yeah, I am" Harry ran his fingers through his hair, making it messier than it already was. "He should find out from me rather than someone else especially since we will be meeting with Dumbledore soon".

With a nod and a pat on his son's shoulder, Remus smiled in approval before playfully bumping into Sirius as he took his leave.

An hour later…

The boys had just walked back into the living room after play a game of quidditch with Neville, who had arrived just in time for them to go flying.

Harry and Lucas were bickering over quidditch teams while Neville trailed quietly behind them when Dinky popped in with a tray holding three butterbeers. The trio took one each while thanking the house elf.

As they settled down in the living room, Neville who could not keep his curiosity at bay any longer ended up blurted out, "Guys, the suspense is killing me! What was the important information which you had written in your letter that you wanted to disclose to me?"

With a chuckle, Lucas turned to his best friend and playfully asked, "Should we put him out of his misery and tell him?"

Smiling, Harry answered "Yeah, let's get it over with". With that he put his butterbeer down and leaned forward, his face turning serious in an instant.

"Neville, there is something that I have been keeping from you, but I trust you enough now to know that you'll keep my secret".

Neville nodded as he answered with conviction "Absolutely! I know that I haven't really known you both long enough, but I trust you and I'm glad you feel the same way with me".

Lucas smiled before nudging his friend to continue.

"Neville, my real name is Harry" Harry said as he stared at Neville to gauge his reaction.

Neville stared in confusion.

"Not to be redundant but why have you been going by James this entire time and is that supposed to mean anything to me" he asked as he watched the duo exchange a look.

"James is my middle name" Harry answered. "My godfather is Sirius Black, and my other guardian is Remus Lupin".

They watched as Neville connected the dots, his eyes widening in surprise before morphing into anger.

He jumped to his feet as he yelled "What?!"

The other two boys watched calmly as he seemed to be losing it but were quite taken aback when he burst out laughing.

"You guys really had me going for a minute there" Neville chuckled as he wiped a tear. "For crying out loud, Harry Potter is known to have a scar on his forehead".

Lucas leaned towards Harry and whispered, "Uh, Harry he is right…your scar is hidden".

Neville eyes widen in shock as he watched Harry's forehead suddenly reveal the famous lightning bolt scar that Harry Potter is known to have.

"W-what…how?" he stuttered.

"I'm an Animagus" Harry answered with a shrug. "It makes it easier for me to hide my scar and live a fairly normal life".

"I cannot believe this" Neville yelled again. "So, was this all a game to you both?"

"What on earth are you on about?" Lucas asked, frowning in confusion.

"Don't pretend like you don't know what I mean…. you both pretend to be my friends to check out your temporary stand-in until you deem it fit to grace us with your true presence?" Neville spat out bitterly. He felt betrayed. He just could not believe that he had been hanging out with the same person that had been the cause of his miserable existence since Dumbledore had chosen him as the temporary replacement.

"If you really think that then clearly you don't know Lucas and I as well I thought you did, albeit the whole hidden identity" Harry said calmly which only seemed to fuel Neville's anger.

"Well, what am I supposed to think?" Neville asked sadly. "Here I was thinking I had met some true friends and it turns out, you have just been using me".

"How do you figure?" Harry said, ignoring the little elbow jab Lucas had given him. He understood Neville's anger at being lied to but to now be accused of using him or pretending to be his friend, is an accusation that he will not allow to fly. They had befriended him because it was the right thing to do as well as the fact that he is a rather fun person to hang out with.

Neville spluttered as he struggled to come up with a reason, but he could not think of a single time that they had been cruel to him or appearing to be using him. Hell, if he looked past his anger and thought back to how his life has been since he had met them, it had been downright pleasant and improved.

"Nev, why don't you take a seat and let us explain to you why Harry never told you of his true identity" Lucas coerced gently.

Suddenly exhausted, Neville deliberately sat down on a couch across from the boys, in order to put some space between them.

Noticing that, Harry sighed before saying "Look Nev, hiding my identity has absolutely nothing to do with you but more to do with my needing to live a relatively normal life considering I didn't get to do so growing up".

"What do you mean?" Neville frowned.

"Did you think I grew up with Sirius and Lupin" Harry smirked with a raised eyebrow. "My childhood was miserable. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy and when I finally got free and got a family that I had always dreamed of, guess who was trying to return me back to the miserable life that I had escaped?"

"Dumbledore?" Neville asked tentatively.

"Bingo!" Harry answer sardonically. "He had even tried to trick Lupin in to giving up my whereabouts to him".

"Ok so maybe I overreacted a bit" Neville began as he was starting to understand where Harry was coming from with the reasoning behind hiding his identity. "But you both listened to me constantly gripe about how I am being used as a stand in for you and neither of you said anything"
"What did you expect us to say?" Lucas asked as he leaned back. "And how would that have helped considering Harry had no plans of being used as Dumbledore's puppet, no offense".

"None taken" Neville smirked, his anger easing up. "But why now? Why the change of heart?"

"Well, my guardians and I have agreed to meet up with Dumbledore" Harry pierced Neville with a stare. "I didn't want him to know my identity before you did. That's not fair to you and I valued our friendship too much to do that".

Neville sighed resignedly. He was still a bit angry at the boys for keeping Harry Potter's identity from him, but he could also understand their reasoning behind it.

"To be honest, I am still not happy about the lying but I do understand it and I appreciate you wanting to let me know before I found out elsewhere".

He stared intently at them as he asked, "Are there any other secrets, you are hiding from me though?"

"Nah, that's about it but I would appreciate it if you kept this a secret between us" Harry said.

"Oh, sure… Harry" Neville answered with a smile.