"So, is Jimmy short for anything?"

" Yeah, James."

Harry looked up from the rim of his coffee cup, peering across the room at Jimmy. After their scuffle, Jimmy had rationally suggested they go someplace quiet and get to the bottom of their situation. Harry had directed him to the foreclosed motel on the other side of town where he lead the way to a rather simple looking tent pitched inside room number Eleven. Upon entering it, of course, revealed a large interior similar to that of a three bedroom house. After making tea, they engaged in painfully dull small talk, neither having the guts to address the problem at hand quite yet.

"So..." Harry mumbled, rubbing the handle of his mug with his thumb.

Jimmy sighed heavily and straightened up in his chair," Alright, look....We look alike...There're only a few reasonable explanations for this."

Harry nodded, relieved the teen had broken the long silence," Right."

"One- Its just some bolt of lightning sort of thing. Two-Just a strange coincidence and we don't REALLY look as alike as we think or Three-"

"We're related," Harry finished for him.

Jimmy put down his drink and nodded gravely," Right..."

"Right," Harry echoed.

A heavy silence ensued, wrapping around the two boys and almost suffocating them with the reality of it all.

"I don't consider myself a person of denial ...." Jimmy whispered and upon Harry looking up, locked eyes with him. " Nor do I think I'm of low intelligence..."

Harry shifted, waiting for the point of these statements.

"Don't you see?" Jimmy asked, eyebrows arched." Its not coincidence or chance..."

Harry leaned forward on his knees." So, you're saying we're related somehow?"

"We're more than just distantly related, Harry...I thought it'd be obvious by now," Jimmy replied.

Harry shook his head, looking down at the grubby carpet," Cousins?"

"Get real, Harry...We're brothers."

Harry jerked his eyes back up to his mirror image, forcing the rush of hope back down," Brothers?"

"Twins in fact. " Jimmy added quietly.

"But...I don't understand..." Harry frowned.

"Ah, that would be my fault, Harry."

The two whipped around to see Professor Dumbledore standing in the doorway of the room, looking as aged and wise as ever. The deep look of sadness did his blue eyes much wrong as the wrinkles of his face filled with somber things.

"Professor?" Harry asked uneasily.

The old headmaster walked over and gazed down lovingly into Jimmy's eyes," My dear boy, how good it is to see you again."

Jimmy's brows knitted together in confusion." Excuse me?"

Dumbledore sat down in an empty armchair in-between Harry and Jimmy. With an expression fused with both utter joy and intense guilt, the white-haired man began to explain," I am so sorry I had to do this to you both."

"Do what, Professor?" Harry inquired, completely lost.

Dumbledore leaned back in the chair, folding his wrinkled hands in his lap," Your suspicions were correct. You two are in fact twins."

Harry and Jimmy exchanged a quick look before returning their green eyes back upon the old headmaster.

"It was on the night of your parents' murder that everything had gone dreadfully wrong..." Dumbledore started." Rumor of Voldemort's plan to seek out your family grew stronger and stronger each day...Yes, Peter Pettigrew was your Secret Keeper and yes, Voldemort did come to your home, but there he discovered only one of you...For he knew nothing of another."

With this, Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes flitted to Jimmy." The birth of twins was kept solely to James and Lily Potter, and the two men they had deemed their children's Godfathers."

Harry frowned," You mean, Sirius KNEW?"

"Yes, Harry. He knew," Dumbledore replied solemnly.

"Why did he never tell me?" Harry questioned angrily, his body growing rigid.

"For protection, Harry. I knew if Voldemort ever found out there were two of you, he'd immediately seek the other out."

"Then the Prophecy. Its not true ?" The scarred brunette inquired, adjusting his glasses.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but it is true." The man answered.

"But how can that be? There're two of us. It could've very well been Jimmy and not me," Harry said.

"Voldemort still marked you as an equal, Harry. That scar is proof enough. Twin or no twin; the prophecy indeed implies you."

Jimmy stirred," What about me, sir? What happened to me?"

"The most unfortunate of happenings. You see, you were staying with your Godfather at the time, a suggestion of your father's for extra protection. Harry had come back home from Sirius' because he was, lightly put, being very 'fussy'. After your parents' murder, I immediately sent Harry away with Hagrid while I saw to dealing with you myself...Your Godfather was most reluctant to let you leave his protection." Dumbledore finished sadly.

"W-who was m-my Godfather?" Jimmy asked quietly, eyes wide with shock.

"Me."

Three heads turned once more to see Remus Lupin silhouetted in the doorway.

"Lupin!?" Harry exclaimed before he could stop himself.

Lupin nodded, his amber eyes instantly falling on Jimmy. A shiny look shimmered across them as he took tentative steps towards the lone boy on the couch.

Jimmy could feel his throat contracting as his lip gave involuntary quivers." Its you...."

A rush of memories from dreams or dreams of memories flooded him all at once: A lean, tawny-haired man crooning gently to him as they gazed at the stars; The same man rocking him to sleep in a downy feathered bed, locks of his golden hair brushing against a tiny boy's cheek; A soothing voice that held such a raw wildness to it but yet still managed to speak so tenderly, spoke in the distant recesses of his mind as it haunted his entire childhood; The moon.

More out of habit than anything else, Jimmy reached up and fingered something just beneath the collar of his shirt. Dangling from a thick silver chain was a metal circle, etched along half of it in delicate strands of silver light itself, was a crescent moon.

Lupin's gaze lowered to the necklace as a painful smile tugged at his lips," You kept it all this time."

Harry frowned between the two of them, then looked over at Dumbledore. The old man seemed sombered by the pair.

In one fluid motion, Jimmy was pulled up and wrapped in Lupin's arms, receiving the very first paternal hug of his life. Jimmy blinked, knowing he was bound to wake up any moment now, but when the man pulled him tighter, he knew he was coherent. Forgetting his inhibitions, he flung his arms around the older man, clutching his robes for dear life.

"Merlin...If I had had the choice, you would've stayed with me..." Lupin mumbled throatily into the brunette's hair.

Jimmy buried his face in Lupin's shoulder, letting his tears fall freely. This was too good to be true...It had to be a dream, right? Good things like this don't happen in real life, right? "You can't be real..."

Lupin gripped the boy tighter, smiling through tears," I'm real, I've always been real."

Jimmy sobbed openly onto the man's cloak, breathing in the thick scent of a traveled man with a hint of canine.

Harry watched the scene, thoroughly confused. He made to open his mouth when Dumbledore silently stopped him with a shake of his head.

"Its you...Its YOU..." Jimmy repeated over and over, steadily crying harder as his hands began to tremble.

Lupin started to rock his Godson gently, rubbing up and down his back as it shook with sobs. It killed him to be greeted like this, but all the same, he was dancing on the inside.

"Remus, if you would please, I believe these two young men deserve the truth," Dumbledore spoke very quietly.

Lupin patted Jimmy's back gently as he guided them both to sit down on the couch. Jimmy roughly wiped his face dry, though the puffy outlines were still evident, making his eyes even more shockingly green. He sat up as straight as he could manage, not seeming to be able to keep from shaking.

Dumbledore drew in a deep breath," I arrived shortly after your parent's death at Remus' home, where he was caring for you Jimmy, as I mentioned earlier."

"I took care of you a lot, Jim. Babysat whenever James and Lily would let me, which turned out to be ALOT since they weren't exactly prepared to handle twins, " Remus added in, glancing down at his bewildered godson.

Dumbledore smiled, but it quickly flickered away as he continued," I knew only too well that Voldemort would return and seek his vengeance on young Harry here. There was no doubt in my mind that had Voldemort knew of your existence, Jimmy, the both of you would be in very real danger."

"But...why?" Jimmy managed to ask through a hoarse voice.

" Voldemort's followers would've done anything to bring both respect and admiration to themselves in the eyes of the Dark Lord. Kidnapping you at any point in time would've instantly given the Death-Eaters exactly what they wanted: Harry..." At this, Dumbledore turned to Harry." There wasn't a second that went by that I didn't regret separating you two. As I saw you grow up and face Voldemort over and over again, however, I came to fully believe I had made the right choice. Your bravery and loyalty to your friends is infamous, as we well know by now."

Harry had a fleeting memory of a certain task back in his fourth year dealing with water and four hostages.

"I knew all too well that had I allowed Jimmy to stay with us, upon Voldemort's wishes, he would've been kidnapped, or worse, to lure you only too easily right into his clutches...And I couldn't allow that...I couldn't risk losing you both," Dumbledore said grimly." So, I gave Remus instructions to pack up Jimmy's things and hand him to my care...From there, I took him to a very trustworthy contact I had in the States, away from all danger. A particular Ms. Snidley."

"That old hag from the orphanage!?" Jimmy exclaimed.

Dumbledore smiled lightly," Yes. She was instructed to give you a home at St. Arthur's Children's Home until you were old enough to attend school, during which time you would take residence only in the summers."

"So. That was it? You just shipped me off and were done with me?" Jimmy couldn't help the edge on his voice.

"Of course not. I sent half of everything I managed to make over the years to your savings in America," Lupin cut in.

"Savings?" Jimmy inquired with raised brows.

" Your scholarship to Dunlap Academy was not real. It was merely a show for the reality beneath it," Dumbledore answered.

"Which was...?" Harry pressed on, eagerly devouring the story that was unfolding in front of him. Glancing at the look of shock and horror on Jimmy's face humbled his interest.

"You were not the only one left with a small fortune," Lupin said with a smile.

"ME? I own a small fortune?" Jimmy asked incredulously.

"Of course. The money your parents had left you also, paid for your schooling," Dumbledore said.

" Then why wasn't I allowed to touch it any other time?" Jimmy asked.

"You were supposed to receive an allowance each year, money you could spend on whatever you wished in addition to the money required for purchasing school things and tuition," The headmaster replied.

"uh...RIGHT."

The two older men frowned.

"You didn't get an allowance?" Lupin asked with a frown.

Jimmy shook his head," No...All I got was a sack of money at the beginning of each year that was just enough to get supplies. Ink, quills, parchment, books, that sort of thing. After I was done shopping for the new school year, I probably had no more than a few Galleons left."

Harry frowned harder," You mean, you were flat broke all year round?"

Jimmy nodded.

" Outrageous!" Lupin exclaimed angrily.

"What?"

"The Headmistress was in charge of distributing your money in generous increments over the course of your stay there," Dumbledore replied calmly.

"You mean to tell me that that shriveled excuse of a human being was responsible for my money!?" Jimmy asked astonished.

"Well, yes." Lupin answered simply.

"She hated me! Gave me detentions left and right, even when I didn't even DO anything! And she was always accusing me of things I never did, just because ,well, she hated me! " Jimmy responded, most put out by this new revelation.

"She wasn't supposed to, Jimmy," Lupin said gently.

"Why, that greedy old bi-"

Lupin quickly clapped his hand over Jimmy's mouth before the remainder of his sentence could come tumbling out. Jimmy blinked.

"We will have a chat with Headmistress Surlan. Indeed we will want to know where all of your money has gone to," Dumbledore said.

"Indeed," Jimmy mumbled when Lupin was sure another obscenity wouldn't slip past his lips.

"What I want to know is why he was kept a secret from ME all these years," Harry spoke at last.

The old man sighed," Because I knew you'd go looking for him, and vise-versa. If Voldemort had managed to gain access to your mind two years ago, Harry, he would've found your memory of your brother and immediately gone after him to get at you."

Harry nodded, angry but satisfied with this answer. " It still wasn't fair..."

"No, no it was not." The man replied softly. "I can only hope that one day, you two will find it in your hearts to forgive me."

Harry looked down.

"I don't know you well enough to pass judgment on you. So, I guess you can call that an apology accepted," Jimmy stated.

Harry shifted, rubbing his arm. Could he be as easily convinced as Jimmy? Sure, it was all for safety purposes, but everything Dumbledore said made it seem he didn't trust Harry. There wasn't faith that Harry could take care of himself and Jimmy. Could he forgive that assumption that cost him the treasure of knowing his last and only living relative?

"I understand that you are hesitant...I would be worried if you weren't."

Harry looked up at the man on the armchair, noticing he looked more fragile and aged than he'd ever seen him before. "I need to think it over for awhile..."

"Certainly. Take your time, Harry. I deserve to wait anxiously upon your judgment," Dumbledore replied." Now, I think I will retire. You three have much to catch up on I trust."

And with that, the Headmaster trooped off to his room, walking with a bit of a lighter bounce in his step.

Lupin, Harry and Jimmy reminisced well into the next morning.