Disclaimer: Unlike other times I have an announcement! I own Gregory Graphicus! He is MINE! Hahahahaha. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Author's Note: YaY! When I'm done editing this chapter I can write a new one :D I've been waiting for inspiration to hit and now it has! YaY!
"Yes."
There was an uncomfortable silence that Harry took to think things over.
This could be the opportunity he had been waiting for! He could finally meet his mother and his father's friends! Harry supposed that when they switched he would finally get to meet his father too. This was excellent!
But at the same time a little nagging voice called 'conscience' said that he shouldn't get too attacked. It told him that he would have to go home sometime and would dread the day enough without getting attached to something. But the dominating voice in his head told him that this was the opportunity to take his life into his own hands for a change.
The one thing he could change was endless. He could change Peter's betrayal! He could change Snape even maybe! Millions of thoughts zoomed by in his brain of things that he could change for the better. His thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore though.
"Well, until October there must be some arrangements made." Dumbledore said standing up. "First off, there is no reason for you to not carry out your education, so you will be taking classes as usual. But, as of right now, you are to go by the name Harry....Harry um....well Harry Potter....why not you can be a relative of James. Which isn't a lie," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "The reason James is not here, is because he....you and him are doing a thing for the Daily Prophet! Yes, a story about switching lives. Oh it's perfect....how to get the prophet to agree? Oh I can talk them into it."
Harry sat, listening to Dumbledore explain what he was to do and not to do. According to Dumbledore he could only change the one thing, but Harry however, was still unconvinced.
"Professor Dumbledore, what do I tell my Dad's friends, the truth or the thing about the Daily Prophet?" Harry asked while Dumbledore stood to leave the infirmary.
"Tell them whatever you like, Harry. But be careful who you do tell. Only the one or ones that you trust should know the future." And with that he bid Harry good-bye and Harry was left staring at a door.
Harry walked back to the common room. Dumbledore said that the password was 'loyalty'. 'Figures.' thought Harry. He reached the Fat Lady portrait. Although the portraits around her had changed everything else seemed to be the same.
"Password," She asked him, eyeing him curiously.
"Loyalty." he said, and the portrait swung outward revealing a hole in the wall. Harry entered and went over to a chair in the corner of the room. Everyone else was still at the feast, so he had the place to himself....or so he thought.
"Whatcha doing, Padfoot?" asked a voice from the other side of the room. Harry turned to see the three marauders come through the portrait hole.
"Ya, why weren't ya at the feast? It was really delicious." Said Sirius, rubbing his stomach.
"Oh, um...you must be James' friends." Harry said. Outside, Harry's features were calm and smooth, but inside he was screaming at himself to remain calm and not flip out about seeing Sirius alive. As of right now he wanted to play along with the Daily Prophet story, at least until he could truly trust them more...or until Peter wasn't along with them.
"Hey, you're not James!" shouted Peter, jumping back.
"Ya, we noticed that, Wormtail. Thanks we wouldn't have figured it out unless you told us!" Remus said sarcastically.
"I'm Harry Potter, a cousin of James. I guess he didn't tell you about the little experiment we have going on did he?" Wow, Harry was surprising himself on how convincing he was.
"Apparently not," Sirius said sitting down on the couch.
"Well, we switched places for a while. Just until Halloween. He's now at Bauxbatons. That's where I went to school. It's for the Daily Prophet. To see what it would be like to switch places with another." It looked like they believed him. Harry secretly crossed his fingers behind his back hoping that they believed him.
"Oh, right."
"Ya. Well I better be going off to bed then. I'll see you guys around I suppose." Harry stood up and walked somewhat smoothly up to the dormitories. Somewhat smoothly meaning, he tripped over his own feet trying to retreat from the gang. Hopefully they didn't realize that he wanted to get away from them though.
He headed up the stairs and into his bed. He laid down thinking of the day ahead of him.
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Harry awoke, to Sirius jumping on his bed.
"Mhmhmmmm." Harry moaned into his pillow trying to fall back asleep.
"Get up sleepy head! If you really want to know what James' life is like, this is how it is!" Sirius said jumping higher and harder. Harry removed the pillow and sat up. Remus and Peter were laughing at him from the corner of the room. Harry pulled the covers off and climbed out of bed. He took a quick shower and dressed. He came back into the bedroom, put his things away and left for breakfast. At the entrance hall everyone stopped talking and stared at him. 'It never fails to amaze me how fast news travels here.' Harry thought going over to the Gryffindor table. He sat down next to Remus and grabbed some toast.
"So, then, Harry. How are you related to James?" Sirius asked forgetting about his food, only for a millisecond mind you. Sirius was obsessed with food.
"Oh, um...my Dad is his mom's brother." he said. Hopefully his Grandmother had a brother.
"Really? Weird I always thought that Mrs. Potter had no siblings." Sirius said grabbing some more eggs.
"Oh," Harry said almost sadly. "No she has a brother."
Breakfast proceeded great until Harry ran a hand through his hair, and Remus noticed the lightning bolt shaped scar.
"Whoa. How'd you get that?" He asked dropping his fork with a loud clatter.
"Oh, that....well it's nothing really. Just fell down the stairs when I was little." Harry said looking at his eggs and talking fast.
"No, you couldn't have. A mark like that only comes from a curse." Remus said surveying Harry closely.
"Well...." Harry's eyes jumped from person to person looking for a way to avoid the question.
"Listen, if you don't want to talk about it then we don't have to," he said.
"Ya, I'll tell you guys sometime though," He said.
And then another thing went wrong.
Snape.
He had found that James wouldn't be at school until after Halloween and decided to meet his cousin.
"Hello, there, Potter." He sneered.
"Hello." Harry said, trying not to sound too icy. Snape didn't change much. He still had that awful nose, greasy hair, and horrible smile that made even the strongest of people cringe. Harry was amazed at how little he had actually changed over the course of twenty years.
"I see you've even made friends with the 'Potter groupies'. Well, there's your first mistake. You better watch yourself, Potter. Even though you are his cousin, you are still a Potter." With that he left.
"Don't mind him, he's always like that. We prank him all the time," Peter said smiling. "I guess he doesn't like it," he added thoughtfully.
And the bell rang, making Harry come back to earth. He stood up and headed for his first classes, wondering what life would be like to be his father.
"Forever?" James repeated, awestruck.
"Yes, but not to worry, Mr. Potter. I suspect that everything will go fine. But until Halloween you must keep up with your classes. You will attend them as usual. But what to do with your name....can't tell people you're James Potter....no, no, imagine the chaos that would create. I suggest we put some charms on you to make you look like Harry. It won't be that much of a transformation, I can tell you that. You look just like him, except the scar and the eyes." Dumbledore said pulling out his wand, saying a few words under his breath, and waving his wand back and forth three times. "Aw, there we go. Just like Harry."
James didn't feel any different. Everything seemed the same.
"Yes, only Harry's friends Hermione and Ron will know about you being who you really are, and the teachers. Oh I bet Severus won't be happy, mind you." Dumbledore said looking a little worried.
"You mean that Snape is teaching here?" James asked in a hurry.
Didn't Dumbledore know that Snape was bad news? He of all people should know that he's a death eater and cannot be trusted.
Surprisingly, Dumbledore smiled.
"Yes, Mr. Potter he is and it's Professor Snape. But right now you needn't worry about that. You should be getting back to Gryffindor Common room. I believe Hermione and Ron will be there to explain everything. Yes, well goodnight James." Dumbledore said shutting the door to the infirmary. They had talked so long about everything that everyone in the infirmary had left.
James almost ran to the portrait hole. When he got there he realized he didn't know the password. 'Oh great. I'll just have to wait here for a Gryffindor to come along.' James said leaning against the wall. And after a while a Gryffindor did come along, but not Ron or Hermione. Neville Longbottom came.
"Hello, Harry!" He said running up to James. James still wasn't use to being called Harry so he simply ignored him. "Harry....hello?!" Neville said waving a hand in front of James' face.
"Oh, hi!" He said hoping that they were friends.
"How are you Harry? How have the muggles been?"
"What? What muggles?" James asked curious.
"What do you mean what muggles? The ones you live with of course!" Neville said eyeing him suspiciously.
"Oh, them.....they're ok." James said deciding to play along. 'The sooner I talk to his friends the better.' he thought.
So they entered the common room. Everyone stopped talking when James came in. They smiled weakly and continued talking quietly eyeing him suspiciously.
"Harry, over here!" Shouted the girl named Hermione waving to him from a deserted corner. James could see Ron sitting down looking pouty and excited at the same time. It was a weird expression to have mixed on his face.
"Well, I'll leave you guys to it then. I bet you have some catching up to do." Neville said heading up to the boys' dormitories.
James walked over to where the red-haired and the brunette were sitting.
"Hi, I'm Ron Weasley," said the red-haired sticking out his hand to James. James shook it. Hermione introduced herself properly too.
"Well....where to begin about Harry." Ron said looking anxious.
"Right," James said. He wanted to know about his son badly. He, as of the moment, had never met him, and was eager to know about him. But his friends were looking sad. Like they didn't want to tell him about his son...
"Well, your name is Harry James Potter. And you hang out with us. Always have. Ever since first year. You have two enemies. Draco Malfoy..."
"Malfoy?! You mean he had a son?!" James asked surprised. 'Yuck! Who did he marry?!' James thought disgusted at the thought.
"What? Oh, ya, he had a son, awful one too. He plays seeker on the Slytherin team. You play seeker on the Gryffindor team. Mighty good too, the youngest seeker in a century to join the house team." Hermione said hoping to make James happier.
"Really? Seeker? Hm..."
"Anyway the other enemy is Professor Snape," Ron said looking like he was going to throw up at the name.
"I can't believe they made him a professor."
"Either can we. He takes points off, and really despises you. Probably because of who you really are, ya know. We hear you two didn't get along to great." Ron said with a smile.
"It's nothing to smile about Ron!" Hermione said doing what James thought was a great impression of Professor McGonagal.
"Right. Nothing to smile about, when he played some serious jokes on him in school. Anything to make Snape angry is something to smile about Hermione."
James laughed. He never really thought about Snape holding a grudge for that long.
"Erm...you actually only have one thing that you really need to worry about. Even worse of an enemy than Malfoy and Snape added together...." Hermione trailed off. This was obviously the subject they hadn't wanted to talk about.
"Who then?" James asked. He was now on the edge of his seat.
"Well, have you heard of Voldemort, yet?" Ron asked not meeting his eyes.
"Ah, don't say that name!" James shouted putting his hands over his ears.
"Great. He knows of him....but he fears the name....what are people going to think around here?! Harry Potter fearing the name of Voldemort! HA!" Ron said pounding the table with his fist.
"You mean, my son isn't afraid of him?" James asked relaxing for a second. 'Who in their right mind wouldn't be afraid of him?'
"Not exactly. You see...Harry kind of defeated him." Hermione said.
James almost fell out of his seat. His son defeated the dark lord!? "What do you mean kind of? He did get rid of him right?"
"Well.....you see....Oh well I'm just going to tell you the whole story and don't interrupt me! Don't be too shocked either.....everyone has to die eventually....and it was destiny...anyway..." Hermione said.
And so started to story of Harry's life.
James did occasionally interrupt and was shocked at all the things that his son had done. Defeat the Dark Lord? No one can live through his attacks once, but Harry had lived through several attacks. Amazing.
After they had reached the part about Sirius dieing, James thought he couldn't take it anymore. Why? Him, his wife, Sirius, and so many others. They all died for a noble cause, but it seemed their deaths went in vain.
Who knew though. Maybe it hadn't.
James, Ron, and Hermione were the last people to leave the Common Room and head for bed. James stayed up later than he thought he would. His head was reeling with everything that Harry had done in his short life. Finally he fell asleep. James awoke to pounding on the door. "Ron! Harry!" A voice screeched through the door. "Get up! You're already late for breakfast!"
At this Ron was instantly awake and pulling on clothes rather haphazardly. He jumped across the room trying to pull his pants up, forgot to comb his hair, and left his bed sheets hanging off the bed lying on the floor waiting for someone to trip over them.
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James just climbed out of bed, dressed, and was out the door in the same time Ron was. Hermione stood at the door looking at her watch.
"Finally. We only have twenty minutes before classes start!" she said walking down the stairs. "I wonder what new classes we have. Who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is. I hear its Professor Bidanya."
"Is that French?" James asked. Ron rolled his eyes muttering something under his breath.
"No, it's Russian. Anya Bidanya was a Princess that invented many spells useful around the house..." from that point James lost attention.
"Seems like Moony or Lily. Swallowed a text book." James said to Ron so Hermione wouldn't hear, who was now on the subject of S.P.E.W.
"She passes them with flying colors," he whispered back before saying loudly to Hermione, "Oh not spew again!"
"S.P.E.W Ron. How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Lots, now let's go I'm hungry," he said grabbing her arm and dragging her to the Great Hall. James followed laughing.
When they reached the Great Hall, James was amazed at how many people looked familiar to him. Many people must have had kids because almost everyone reminded him of an old schoolmate.
Breakfast went without many problems.
I said many, not any.
Malfoy occurred.
"Potter!" He hissed. He was only standing four feet away from the Gryffindor table but his voice still carried.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione asked turning in her seat to face him.
"I didn't call for you, Mudblood." At this Ron and James jumped up ready for a fight. Malfoy continued obviously satisfied with himself. "I just came to ask Potter why he didn't have a scar or green eyes on the train the other day."
"A spell backfired." Ron lied through gritted teeth.
"Don't be stupid Weasel. A spell wouldn't do that." Malfoy's eyes flashed. "Watch your back, Potter." He turned to leave but stopped. "You two should watch your backs too." he said pointing between Ron and Hermione.
"Ferret." Hermione whispered, taking her aggression out on her eggs, stabbing at them like a mad woman.
"Does he always call you that, Hermione?" James asked fearing the answer.
"Ya, but I don't let it get to me. I'm worth twelve of him." she said smiling slightly.
"Where have I heard that before?" Ron asked.
"Harry said it to Neville after he was in the leg lock curse. Then Neville thought he could take on Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy. Poor guy was knocked out in the hospital wing for a week."
Before James could even marvel at how cool his son was, the bell rang.
Classes were starting soon.
James, Hermione, and Ron left the Great Hall together, Hermione thinking about when to start her homework, Ron thinking about how hungry he was, and James thinking about his first day as his son.
Author's Note: Ok So I've edited the four chapters that I have. I'll be putting the next chapter up tomorrow. It is rather late and my parents say that I have to get up before noon tomorrow. :P Can you believe that? Lol j/k It's not too bad really. Oh, well...until tomorrow!
PLEASE REVIEW!!!