The Time Travel Crew

Chapter 12: Big brothers - Justin and Harry

Justin was having the time of his life. Who would have believed reliving his past would be so much fun. It was a bit embarrassing to be tended to so often, but worth it.

Back in his time, as soon as Justin became seventeen, he knew attending Hogwarts was out of the question...living here in England too was a decision only a mad muggleborn would make. And it was with this in mind that Justin convinced his parents to flee to Switzerland, where he put up the Fidelius charm around an abandoned, reconstructed flat next to a farmhouse.

They were well provided for and everything, but Justin could never understand how he managed to live under all that strain... Who knew when Death Eaters would suddenly pop up around the area.

Then, Neville used the fake galleon to call for help, that they needed someone with a bit of medical knowledge, then there was war and Justin had no idea if he'd get to meet parents again, forget about bringing them back to England if everything went well. All he could do was hope that this time round it wouldn't be too bad.

He kept his ears open for any kind of news from the Muggle world, and every week, he would get a visit from one of the Heads of House who kept him upto date with the happenings of the Wizarding world.

Justin was made aware, by Snape, that Draco had set his House-elf free and Dobby was working for the Longbottoms.

Sprout told him that they had decided to set Neville's plan into motion but the students weren't informed about it. The professors had wracked their brains, searching for a way to group the students without them accusing the professors of partiality.

Then Justin suggested that each Head of House simply make lots. It was funny how difficult it was for the Wizarding world to come up with logical solutions to their problems... Magic can never be the answer to everything.

Just a month ago, McGonagall brought him the news that the Houses United was a success. Even the fifth, sixth and seventh years wanted to join in and all in all, the day was successfully and both Neville and Pomona were happy.

A week later, Flitwick filled him up on the bit that Dumbledore had decided to get the Heads of House to set an example and got them involved with hot chocolate and a worksheet and everything. McGonagall and Snape had both been much too embarrassed about it and that was probably why McGonagall very conveniently avoided telling him about rhe little detail. According to Flitwick though, they all had a lot of fun.

Justin sat in his crib deep in thought. It was January the twenty-fourth and today, his father came home and in his arms was a seven month old baby!

That was Keith, Justin's adopted little brother with wavy brown hair and blue eyes. In the previous time Keith died a year after he was brought home because of some stomach infection that various doctors couldn't cure.

Justin could never find a memory of Keith no matter how much he tried and his parents had always told him how joyous Keith used to be. Justin had actually forgotten about him when he met with the rest of the crew on the first day and he still felt terrible about it.

It was after a week of planning that Justin, who went home to visit his parents, saw Keith's photo on the mantle above the fireplace. The very next night, he told them about Keith and Snape promised that he would try his best to find a remedy for that problem.

Justin was lucky enough to get his hands on the little boy's medical reports and his adoption papers without the knowledge of his parents.

The health report taken before his adoption showed nothing.

But this disease according to Snape, who took two days to complete his research, is one that affected a wizard or witch. If it isn't treated in time, the results are, in the case of most wizarding adults, fatal...let alone a baby.

It was known as the Slumbering Disease. When contracted, it 'slumbers' in the person's system for ten months before bouncing into activity, slowly deteriorating the victims organs.

The fact that Keith contracted it meant that he was a wizard too and Justin was over the moon with delight. But the fact that Keith began to get fever two months before he died meant that he had the infection in him before he was adopted, a very depressing thought indeed.

Snape would come the next night to give Keith his first dose of the potion that would do away with the infection. The next dose would be given to him after thirty days, followed by the third in March and the fourth towards the end of April.

Justin watched without any envy as his parents gave their whole attention to the baby for the rest of the evening. Of course, his mother would never forget him... she fed him and put him to bed at the right time.

The next morning, routines were adjusted to accommodate Keith and the day moved on brilliantly...his parents even bought a crib for his little brother. They put the crib between Justin's crib and his parents bed.

And Justin was awake when he heard his parents swear that they would never tell Keith or Justin that little Keith was adopted.

That night Snape tiptoed into the room and cast a sleeping charm on Justin's parents. With an acknowledging wink at Justin, he approached Keith and took out a crystal phial from his pocket that contained a small sip of a yellow liquid.

At first, probably to be sure, Snape cast a diagnostic charm on the boy and satisfied that he had the Slumbering Disease, he took of the cork of the phial and with a fluid movement of his wand the liquid vanished...It took a moment for Justin to realise that the potion was magicked into Keith's stomach.

Justin beamed at the Potions Master with gratitude and was rewarded with one of Snape's smiles. Then Snape left and Justin took the sleeping charm off his parents.

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In his time, in nineteen ninety one, when Dumbledore had asked him to not go looking for the Mirror of the Erised again, Harry had complied, but he couldn't forget what he saw. He had completed eighteen before he time traveled and even then, Harry couldn't stop daydreaming about the life he'd have got to enjoy had at least one of his parents lived, if not both.

He had even hoped that he would get a chance to be with them in this world. And now, his wish had come true and Harry decided to make the most of it.

He loved the feeling of being loved by his mother, he loved being the limelight of the elderly neighbours' affection (he was the only kid in the area) and he loved when Sirius or Remus visited.

A living Lily, a free Sirius, a not so shabby looking Remus and Cokeworth as a whole gave him some sense of hope, that the mission they had undertaken was worth it, that it was working, that there would be no drawbacks or regrets.

He always looked out for Sirius's and Remus's visits which seemed to be very irregular and short. Remus's were rare, but neither Lily nor Harry could fathom the reason. Harry decided to blame it on his job hunt.

Sirius's irregular visits was understandable because he needed to go to Auror school.

When out of the blues, the day after that Halloween, Sirius declared that he was going to sign up for Auror training, Harry was very surprised. But that may have been the case back in his time had Sirius not been arrested. This Auror business may also have surfaced in response to the enmity he held with Snape, or even the jealousy of how fond Harry was of him.

The neighbours admired Snape's loyalty and even mentioned to Lily once or twice how lucky she was to have such a wonderful friend.

Snape used to come over every Sunday, bringing whatever Harry and Lily needed, he played with Harry in his mother's presence but never stopped to speak to him alone. That might have been because of Harry's insistence that they take him along with them to retrieve the Horcruxes.

He knew he was a baby, and his suggestion must have sounded rather ridiculous, but Harry wanted to start taking action. And so, when Lily went out of the room once, Harry asked Severus to at least inform him when they set out to get the Horcruxes.

Snape told him very sternly that he was going to behave like a child and enjoy his life.

"The very reason we asked you to join us in our journey, Harry," Snape said, "was so that you got a chance to enjoy life and to witness and appreciate the difference. You have made a major difference already and that's more than enough."

"But -" Harry began to protest,but he was interrupted by Snape.

"You will not be participating in this search...you did it the last time and now you are going to take a break. There is no need of getting you involved in making any more changes. Please, Harry...listen to reason! You are just a year old!"

"But pwease chell me if -"

"Yes, you will be informed after we retrieve a Horcrux and not before." Snape said in a tone that had no room for complain.

Harry was too determined, however, to notice Snape's tone and he began to argue only to be cut short by Snape.

"Your mother needs you." he said bluntly.

Harry deflated immediately.

That was true... his mother did indeed need him.

It was probably the trauma that set in after Voldemort's attack, or the fact that James was no longer around, but Lily could never bring herself to be separated from Harry. She would hold him close to her at every opportunity she got and Harry didn't complain.

In a bid to keep her busy, she had made four batches of strawberry wine, two of cherry and three of pineapple already and she was now simply testing the sewing machine, that Snape brought to the Cherished Heart, by tailoring little outfits for Harry.

Then just the previous day, Sirius came home with a large portrait of James that Lily placed in her had Harry's bedroom. It wouldn't do to keep it in the living room or their Muggle guests would be in for a nasty shock.

Sirius and Remus had his other frames so James could visit them whenever he wanted.

The James in the picture wore brown robes and sat in a comfy wooden armchair with red cushions. The background was a painting of their living room and to Harry it felt...perfect. The walls were a pale yellow and the table behind the armchair was loaded with books.

And as soon as Sirius took the frame out of the wrapping, James, whose face looked disbelieving, said, "Really, Sirius! Of all the things that you could have painted, you chose books?"

"The artist did that, Prongs, not me." Sirius said matter-of-factly and then he grinned, "But your frame back at my house has a background of a kitchen, that should be interesting."

"He never liked cooking either." Lily said drily.

"Lily!" James said excitedly. "Oh! That's my baby boy! Harry, Harry! Here son, look up at the painting!"

Harry who pretended to be distracted by the chain around Lily's neck, looked up at the painting and squealed with delight, "Da! Da! Da!"

He clapped his hands and tried to move towards the painting, his arms outstretched, a silent request to be carried by his father.

"Oh, Harry!" Lily exclaimed sadly and wrapped him in a hug.

After Sirius left, Lily had a good cry holding Harry in her arms. But this was the first time she cried in Harry's presence.

She used to cry for James every night, when she thought Harry was asleep. And no matter how much the friendly neighbours - who visited to help in anything they could - advised her to see a psychologist, Lily always refused.

And though she put on a very calm and happy appearance around Harry, he knew that even now, almost six months after the horrific incident, she was still grieving.

As Harry lay down with his eyes closed so his mother could assume him to be asleep, he sat wondering if he made a mistake saving Lily, but a large portion of his mind and soul screamed 'No!'

But she was so unhappy, Harry reasoned with them.

Give it some more time and she'll be alright, they told him.

But Harry knew that grief was a journey that could never be completed by the person undertaking it.

He contemplated on how much they had done in just six months, and now all they had to do was to start on the Horcruxes, but he wasn't going to be allowed around them anytime soon. Harry sighed and began thinking of a way to steal the Hufflepuff Cup from Gringotts and just as he thought about suggesting the Heads of House into becoming invisible and casting Imperiuses at every Goblin they set their eyes on, he fell asleep.

The next evening, Harry found himself in Snape's arms at St. Mungo's, waiting outside a private maternal ward. It was the twenty eighth of April and Lily was having her baby.

They had been waiting for a very long time and before they left for St. Mungo's, Lily had sent a Patronus to the homes of both Remus and Sirius. But Sirius must have been attending his Auror classes and Remus was probably hunting for a job, for they hadn't come.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting and wondering whether he would now have a baby brother or sister and what he's sibling's name would be, a healer came out and said, "You may come in."

"Is it a girl or a boy?" Snape said and Harry could almost classify his tone as excited.

The healer smiled, "You'll have to ask the proud mother!"

Snape with Harry still in his arms hurried into the room. Lily was exhausted but her eyes sparkled with happiness and in her hands was a bundle of white cloth from which peeked out a tiny black head.

She looked up at Snape and Harry and gave them both a brilliant, yet, tried smile and said to Snape, "Severus, will you be the godfather?"

"I said I would," Snape said to her with a small smile, "All said and done, your baby now knows it has been appointed a godfather...but the godfather himself has no clue if he's been appointed to spoil a boy or a girl..."

Lily let out a laugh, the first natural laugh Harry had ever heard coming from his mother.

"It's a girl Sev! A sweet baby girl with ten fingers and ten toes and James's hair and my eyes! If we ever had a girl, James wanted her name to be Joyce Lily Potter." Her smile saddened, "But I was thinking of naming her Joyce Jamie Potter, after James."

Snape frowned. Then he shook his head slowly.

"Whatever for? Why don't you heed his wish? Joyce Lily sounds beautiful!...Besides, your son has already been named after his father, and Joyce Jamie has one J too many... Think about it, Lily, you could ask Potter's portrait...as annoying as it is to my ears, I'm sure it'll agree."

Lily nodded after almost a minute.

"I'll think it ov-"

The door banged open and both Remus and Sirius dashed in, Sirius was carrying James's portrait under his arm.

"Sorry we're late." Remus said apologetically, "but it happens that we both reached our homes at around the same time and we found your doe waiting for us..."

"I grabbed James and apparated here immediately... met Remus in front of the dummy." Sirius gasped out as he sat James's empty frame down. Harry looked at its background, then he blinked and looked again.

It was the most untidy, unkept thing he had ever seen! There were blotches of various stains all around the granite counter and the supposedly white tiles on the walls...a utensil of what looked like gravy was on its side on the counter and its contents were dripping onto the brown tiles on floor...a few pancakes were stuck to the low ceiling...a saucepan on the stove seemed to be overflowing with soap bubbles and lather... there also seemed to be a lot of muddy footprints on the floor in front of the counter.

Lily let out a muffled shriek.

"I know, I know." Remus said consolingly. "He's always been very messy."

"There is a huge difference between very messy and this!" Lily said in a fierce whisper so as to not to wake up the baby. "This is an absolute...oh, I can't even find a good word to describe it! How did he even get the mud prints?"

"From the farm." Remus whispered back.

"The what?"

"That's the background of his portrait at my house. He grows various veggies and also rears a few chicken and cows. And if I'm not mistaken, I think he's still there, commanding the carrot seeds he's just planted to grow." Remus shook his head in exasperation.

Sirius nodded sheepishly, I've already ordered another portrait for him, you know? One with a whole set of cleaning equipment painted in it."

Harry tuned out the ridiculous conversation to look at his little sister, his baby sister. She was so small, so fragile...the black tuft of hair was all be could still see...he was going to look after her so well, Harry vowed to himself, he was going to protect her as best as he could...no matter what.

Harry sighed sadly...how he hoped and wished for a sibling. And how he had hoped for a complete family...you just can't have everything.

To be continued...