I stared at him for at least a couple of minutes. Remus Lupin was very familiar to me. Something to do with the moon. "Let me get Petunia," I said as I showed him into the parlor. As I was about to leave he asked who I was, I answered, " Harry Evans." I told Petunia who was done there and why. She told me to make some tea and that she would be down in a minute.
I made the tea, thankful today was Saturday and no one was coming over, and sat out the cups. Petunia came down stairs and greeted Mr. Lupin some what reservedly. "Harry tells me you came to see Harry Potter, may I ask why?"
Mr. Lupin shifted in his seat. "I've gone through a bad patch since Lily and James died. I've finally been able to let go and I hoped to get to know Harry."
Petunia and I looked at each other, I gave a slight nod and she said, "he's sitting right here. When I got divorced I changed my name back to Evans and legally adopted Harry."
Mr. Lupin was surprised, but nodded. "I see, when I first saw you I thought it was you, but you didn't respond to the name so I wasn't sure." Mr. Lupin-Remus told us about what he had been doing since he sunk into a depression. Petunia said he was welcomed to stay, but he said something about being a condition and that it wouldn't be a good idea. We talked about basically nothing trying to find what we were each comfortable with.
A few weeks passed and we got to know each other better. Remus took me on walks to talk about my parents. He told me that my dad had been arrogant when he was my age. It was caused by his heritage. While dad was not the type to view others as inferior, he did take pride in knowing how good he was. He had met my mom at school and they had struck up a tentative friendship. She was very sweet and kind, but if she was angered you better start running.
He had made friends with James in his second year, mostly because dad found that he was an excellent tactician. The years had gone by and they became notorious for being able to prank people.
"I was a very close friend with your mother at the time, though most people only thought we hung around each other because we were both in advanced classes."
Remus told me more stories about the exploits of my dad and his friends. My mom had tried to stop them on a few occasions, but they never pulled a prank on her. "James wouldn't have allowed it, he had a huge crush on her. The few times he might have, I forced them onto a different target."
Months passed by and I was constantly learning new things about my parents. Finally I asked a question that had bothered me for some time. "Did you like my mom?"
Remus took several deep breaths before answering. "Yes. The day before she went out with James, she asked me if there was anything that she should know before she agreed to go out with him. I wanted so badly to say yes and tell her my feelings, but I knew how James felt. I also knew that he would be mad because he trusted me with so much information about his feelings. Eventually I said no. Every day since then I've wondered what would have happened if I'd said yes."
I spent my time divided between Hermione and Remus. Hermione understood that I wanted to learn about my parents, and never complained when I wasn't around. While Hermione was good at hiding emotions, I knew her well enough to tell she was sad about being left alone. I invited her more than once consecutively to come with me while I learned about my parents, but she always said no.
I told her everything I learned about my parents, and she listened patiently to my stories about them. After awhile Remus was a constant fixture around the house. He even had his own room when he was available, he had to leave once a month to take care of something for a few days.
Angel told me Remus was a werewolf, once a month he transformed into a wolf that would attack humans. While during these times he was dangerous, the rest of the time he was just an ordinary wizard.
Time passed and Hermione and me resumed our constant devouring of various texts, which caused Remus to laugh saying I was my mother's son. Remus got us several books that we couldn't find, copies of older books that were not translated from their original text.
My tenth birthday came and went. I was quickly approaching the time I was supposed to go to Hogwarts. Angel and Devil, my names for the persons in my head, taught me how to use magic without a focus, but told me I wore a focus that many people weren't aware would work, my locket.
About a month before my eleventh birthday, I finally received my Hogwarts letter. I brought the mail in and showed it to Petunia. It was addressed to Harry Potter. We sat down and wrote the acceptance letter, finishing it as Harry Evans. Hermione came over soon afterwards, apparently she had received her letter as well. She was talking about it sadly until I was able to tell her I received one to. Her scream of excitement brought Petunia running. After admonishing her for startling her, she smiled and congratulated her and suggested that she and her parents stay for supper so that they could discuss it. The day flew by, since Hermione was confirmed as a witch, Petunia brought out my mother's old school books so we could read them.
Hermione spent a lot of time hungrily pouring over various books. I read a couple of advance charm books before it was time for supper. Hermione's parents asked questions and Petunia did her best to answer them.
Mr. Granger asked, "why is it that you know so much about this world?" Petunia explained that her sister had gone to Hogwarts, and that was how she learned about it. It was decided that we would all go together in a week. Hermione's parents and Petunia went to enjoy an adult only conversation while we went and to read some books. We looked over the books for an hour before her parents decided to leave.
The next week we were joined by Remus who said that he wanted to get a few things in Diagon Alley and would be more than happy to show them the way. We (the Grangers) had received a letter saying someone would meet them outside the Leaky Caldron and how to find it. Remus made it that much easier and took us there without any trouble.
We were meet by an older woman dressed very business-like. When she saw Remus she greeted him like an old friend. After the Grangers were introduced, she turned to Petunia and me and asked our names. Remus jumped in, "perhaps we should continue this inside where we can discuss things comfortably. The woman, McGonagall, glanced at me before nodding. We went inside and went into a conference room and sat through an explanation about the currency of the wizard world and various small details about its history.
Once we had finished, we went to Gringotts to get wizard money. Hermione and her parents went to one of the exchange counters while Petunia and I got into line behind a giant of a man. I could only stare in awe at the goblins around us. The man in front of us handed over an envelope and the goblin nodded, and called us up. Petunia handed her the key McGonagall had given us. After a quick inspection he told a goblin to take us down. A quick cart ride brought us to a large vault.
The goblin opened the vault and I felt my eyes grow large. There were piles of gold, silver and bronze coins. Glancing at Petunia I filled two large bags full of the gold coins, Galleons. Returning to the surface I went over to one of the exchange counters and got a large sum of muggle money. Petunia gave me an odd look but said nothing.
We joined up with Hermione's family and went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. We got fitted for our school robes and were told they would be ready in an hour. Next we went to Fourish and Blotts to pick up our books. We picked up a bag that was supposed to be bottomless and feather-light and placed our school books in them. Hermione and me got several books for extra reading, can't be too prepared.
Our next stop was the Apothecary to get our caldrons and other potion supplies. Our final stop was Ollivander's. We walked in and waited for someone to help us, we didn't wait long. "Ah Mr. Potter, I've been wondering when I would see you." An older man appeared from behind some shelves and walked over.
Hermione and her parents gave me odd looks, but I simply stated, "my name is Evans sir, not Potter." The old man, Ollivander, looked at me oddly before nodding. Hermione went first and we waited about ten minutes before she had one that suited her. Ten and a quarter inches, vine wood and dragon heart string. It was my turn next, and though I could feel the pull on me towards a particular wand, I decided to let him work, as he seemed happy when he didn't get it correct the first time.
An hour later, a smiling Ollivander pulled out a wand and brought it over to me. "holly, 11", supple, single phoenix feather," he said. The second he started walking towards me I knew it was the one. I took it and waved it, red and gold sparks flew out. Mr. Ollivander gave me an odd look but said nothing.
We got our robes and returned home, Hermione and I quickly started practicing various spells. After an hour or so, Hermione left to do something while I practiced. A short while later I walked out and overheard Remus and Hermione talking.
"Why did you not want Professor McGonagall to know Harry's name," Hermione asked.
I heard a sigh before Remus said, "Harry is famous in the wizard world. He did something no one knows how to do, he reflected a killing curse, which is supposed to be impossible. While McGonagall knows who Harry is, many wizards and witches hero worship him. Very few people are named Harry, so if they heard his name was Harry Evans, They might just take the time to see if he might be Harry Potter, also known as the 'boy-who-lived'."
"But why? Does it matter?"
"I don't think it should. Unfortunately I am a minority on the subject." There was a slight pause. "If possible, I would like for everyone to believe Harry Potter vanished and Harry Evans has no relation to him. Unfortunately there are quite a few people who will put the pieces together."
There was a long stretch of silence until, "come in Harry, I know you heard most of the conversation," from Remus. I walked in and saw a thoroughly embarrassed Hermione sitting with a calm Remus.
"If you think I'm mad Hermione, believe me I'm not." Hermione smiled weakly at me when I said that. Turning towards Remus I said, "thank you for telling me, no matter how accidentally."
Remus nodded, "I would have told you later, but she," he glanced at Hermione, "can be very persuasive."
I laughed, "you're just now figuring this out? Obviously you haven't spent much time around her." She shot me a glare. "Don't worry Hermione, it just means I can almost never say no to you."
Remus chuckled, "almost?"
I could feel myself blush, "yea, I know how to pick which things I really want to fight over." Everyone had a good laugh. The following weeks had Remus showing us how to perform various spells.
My birthday dawned clear and we had the usual people come over. Hermione had given me a carving of a stag, dog, wolf, and raven. I showed it to Petunia and Remus, who had kind of become like a father to me. Petunia was amazed by the craftsmanship, while Remus just stared at it.
"What's wrong Remus?"
He walked up to it and said, "Prongs," he pointed at the stag, "Padfoot," dog, "Moony," wolf, "and Sunstar," raven. I didn't understand until he said, "these were our forms as animals." He gazed at it for a long time.
After he broke eye contact he explained about my parents, Sirius, and Peter became Animagus to join him on the full moon. He told me in detail about their forms, dad was a stag, mom was a raven, Sirius was a large black dog commonly confused with a Grim, and Peter was a white rat. We (Remus, Hermione and me) talked about the difficulty of becoming Animagus until it was time for the party.
It was decided that since the wizard world had strict adherence the secrecy, we would hold certain presents and till afterwards, basically Remus's. I was fun, I got a nice watch, various pieces of clothing and a camera. There was a lot of laughter and games until everyone went home. Remus told me that my present would be in my room, so I went and found a beautiful snowy owl in a cage.
I ran back down stairs and was repetitively saying thank you over and over. I promised to take real good care of her. I kind of felt a little ridiculous, but I was happy about it. I went back to my room and began to try and think up a name for her when 'Hedwig' popped in my head. She liked it and flew over to my shoulder when I called her it. I sat stroking her feathers for a while before laying down and sleeping.
(You didn't think he wouldn't have Hedwig did you?)
I saw Devil and Angel playing chess, but the pieces were different. On Angel's side there were various people, some I didn't know and some I did. On Devil's it was almost the same. What caught my eye about the pieces was that some of them were changing between animals and humans.
"We won't be able to help you with events that are coming, our time will soon end," Angel said.
"The game is about to begin," said Angel.
"All the pieces are in place," said Devil.
"Beware of rats, especially one missing a toe on the right."
"The wolf knows the dog is innocent, but cannot prove it. Take heed when you see a grim, for he hunts the rat."
"The snake is preparing to strike the castle, he seeks what can save him."
They said together, "Fate's path broken, all is gray. Light and dark war for your aid, do not fall to their heed. To the life of one cling, for she is our salvation." I could tell that something was going to happen when they stood from their game, it was something they never did.
"We bestow to you our knowledge, remember it is a double edge sword."
"You have no more need of us, the dam within you will now be broken." They changed from definite colors to very similar shades of gray. I watch as a look of sadness crossed their face.
Then I felt a wave hit me, and their memories came forward.
A/n:2638 words. It may seem odd that I put that in there, but I like it. I got flamed for the first time on this story! I have a question, if someone doesn't like a story, why review? I mean you can't judge a book on the first chapter. (Smirks) Thank you for all the kind reviews!
Questions: Only one⦠Is that a good thing?
Basil/raven: Harry was nine going on ten and Hermione was ten going on eleven.
Things to remember:
The interaction between Hermione and Dudley. While I will not write what happened (at least not publish it), it will figure in to things later. Dudley will also come back, and you will see exactly how important Hermione is to Harry.
Remus and Petunia. They figure as the more important adult characters.
