Disclaimer: I hereby state that J.K. Rowling and the publishers of the books have all rights to the characters and plots in J.K's wonderful books. Only the idea for this story is mine, and I am making absolutely no profit from the writing of this story.

A.N.: Thank you for all the reviews. I'm glad so many liked the first chapter, especially as I was only expecting seven or eight, but instead got fourteen! Yay me! Also, while the story idea is mine, it completely stemmed from wwwendy's challenge.

Hm, I'm guessing that Lily is his biological mother, but that she was carrying him for Dahlia, or something like that.
Close, but no cigar. BTW, I love it when people speculate!

"That was the worst thing i ever read. i would rather read how snape fell for hermionie" (harry/hedwig fan)
Hee, hee! Thanks for making me laugh person who did not spell "Hermione" correctly and makes me think they love beastiality between Harry and Hedwig!

Criticism is welcome, especially if done in taste!


It was ten in the morning on July thirty-first that Harry woke up. He had stayed up until three in the morning, holding out hope that he would still receive some sort of correspondence on his birthday. He had wanted to be left alone in the beginning, but for the past few weeks, he could not help but feel the intense pain of loneliness. He felt abandoned by everyone, even though it was Dumbledore that was preventing anyone from owling him any messages or contacting him thru Mrs. Figg's cats. His only luck, today, seemed to be that he had gone without dreaming on his birthday. It was a nice change to not see Sirius die so vividly again.

The first thing he noticed after putting on his glasses was the gift, wrapped in green gift wrap, sitting on his bed. For a moment, he wondered which of his friends had actually managed to sneak him a gift past Dumbledore's enforced no contact. His hope drifted away when he noticed that the handwriting that spelled out his name on the front of the envelope was actually his aunt's handwriting. It was with trepidation that he opened the letter and pulled out three pages of stationary, filled with Aunt Petunia's handwriting. He squinted a bit to read the letter, reminding him of how he was desperately due for a new prescription of glasses.

Dear Harry,

I have kept a great many secrets from you in the whole time that you have lived in this house. Some, your whole world knew (and you now know those), while others, only myself, Dahlia, Lily, and James knew. Three of these people, of course, are now dead and buried, leaving me with the burden of carrying these secrets. No one was supposed to know, and Lily was to tell you when you turned fifteen. A year has past since that date, but I held no obligation in telling you of these secrets. One thing you must realize is that it does not change who YOU are. It is who you have always been, but you simply did not know it. I learned this lesson myself when I was a teenager. I only tell you this because I would rather not deal with anymore depression from you. In order for you to understand these two, closely guarded, secrets, I must tell you the stories behind them. The first secret is that I am no blood relative of yours.

The first is relatively simple to explain, and affects nothing but your ancestry. Jane and Michael Evans were never capable of bearing any children of their own, so they decided to adopt. The first two children they adopted were Dahlia and Lily, when they were only two weeks old. They were thrilled with them from the very beginning, from what I understand. At the same time, they had met me, a two year old who had not yet been adopted. Six months later, I was adopted as well, and the three of us were closer than natural siblings. All three of us never spoke to others of our adoption, as there was a bit of a stigma that came with such a thing in our school, especially as we did not know who our biological parents were. No doubt, not even your headmaster knows. Jane and Michael were the best and we never insulted them by even suggesting that they were anything but our true parents.

The second secret that I hold leads into the third. That headmaster of yours had told me that the sisterly bond I shared with Lily was what would protect you, and that was why he placed you with me. I let you know this because that was not why I accepted you into my home. You should know by now that I never wanted anything to do with Lily and James Potter. I loathed them for reasons that are my own. Had you truly only been their child, I would have never taken you in. I took you in because of Dahlia. Still, I could not help but see James Potter's face when I looked at you, and hear Lily's sarcasm and wit and strength whenever you spoke. I never looked into your eyes, because that was where I could see Dahlia. Perhaps in telling you this, I am attempting to justify my actions toward you. I know nothing will, but perhaps in time, you and Dahlia could forgive me. This leads to my third secret that I hold, and that which will likely hurt you the most. Your parentage is not made up of Lily and James, rather a knotted mess when arguing who your mother is, and James is not your father at all.

Harry choked He wanted this to be a joke. He did not want some letter from his aunt to rip away everything he knew about his parents.

At this, I shall start at the beginning. I told you prior to you reading this letter that Dahlia had been in a car accident that had rendered her incapable of having children. What you must understand is that this had practically destroyed her. Every time we ever played house as children, she always wanted to play the mother. She was a natural caregiver. The knowledge that she could never have children of her own had deeply wounded her. Our mother understood, of course, having felt the same emotions. Her emotional state left her nowhere near capable of going off to a boarding school away from mum. Lily went, though, and I later learned, years later, that she went specifically to find a way for magic to give back what Dahlia had lost. Still, I resented her for leaving when Dahlia needed all of us. Dahlia was hurt as well. Our parents knew of her secret plans, though, and were so proud of her for it. Dahlia and I did not know why they were so proud, though, until much later. It hurt the two of us to think that we could not make them proud in the same manner.

When Lily and Dahlia turned seventeen, Lily had given Dahlia a box full of books and research notes that she had done. I remember the confusion that Dahlia held when looking at the odd gift that spoke of magic that none but Lily understood. It was when Lily revealed what they actually meant that I was thrilled with her for the first time in years, and upset as well because only Lily could provide this gift for Dahlia. There were potions that Dahlia could take that would restore the damage that Dahlia had suffered in her uterus. There was a transference charm that would allow Lily to give Dahlia one of her ovaries, along with the eggs inside them, as Dahlia's could no longer provide. As Lily and Dahlia were identical twins, any child that Dahlia would birth after the magic was done might as well have been her own biological child. That summer found Dahlia with the ability to have children once again. The only downside was that magically, the child would be considered Lily's, as they were her eggs. Dahlia found that she did not mind this. She would be able to experience everything that a mother could, from the moment the child was conceived to gaining grandchildren and great grandchildren from that child. Two and a half years later, Dahlia conceived a child only two months after I became pregnant with Dudley. She told only Lily who the father was, as the father was a wizard and I did not know him. I still do not know his name.

Harry, what you must understand is that the child she conceived was you. I have told you all of this so you understand that while Lily is your biological and adoptive mother, it was Dahlia that granted you life. She was the first to claim motherhood on you. Unfortunately, Death Eaters attacked my parents home when Dahlia was there as well. Both my parents died in that attack and Dahlia was critically wounded. The magical doctors were only able to hold her life in temporary stasis in order to find someone to take you from her womb and place you in another. She was only four months pregnant with you at the time. I would have easily done so had I not been pregnant with Dudley at the time. Lily, though, stepped right up. James was the only other person that knew, and he had made the magical doctor forget all about how Dahlia had been pregnant and that you had been placed into Lily, for reasons unknown fully to me. Dahlia died the next day and her only request was that if you were a girl, to name you Juniper, and if you were a boy, to name you Harry. Obviously, the request was honored. Still, there was obviously a war, and it would do no good for anyone to find out that you were not the product of Lily and James. From what I understand, an adoption charm was placed on you while you were still in the womb and James accepted you fully as his own flesh and blood. It is why you look so much like him. I could see that he loved you dearly, just as my parents had loved me. Blood meant nothing. That was the only time that I ever appreciated anything to do with James Potter. He was Lily's Michael Evans.

I have told you all this because of Dahlia. You deserve to know the part she played in your life. I cannot deny that part of you anymore, especially as she and I were so close. While Lily is no doubt your biological mother and the one who adopted you as her own while you were in her womb, Dahlia is the one I recognize. You have her eyes, you know. Lily's were never so full of life in one point in her life, and so full of sorrow in another. Lily has no claim on those eyes of yours, for whenever I see them, I am not reminded of Lily, but Dahlia.

I would very much prefer to never speak of this letter or its contents to you. Do not bring any of this up in this household as both Vernon and Dudley have no clue and I want it to stay that way. Vernon is unaware that Dahlia was ever a witch, though untrained, and I do NOT want him besmirching her name. She had never wronged or hurt me as Lily had done, before and after the gift to Dahlia. I do not want you to speak ill of her, either. She was the woman who granted you life and loved you from the very moment she found out about you until the moment she past on. I am sure her love for you continued even past her death.

Aunt Petunia

Slowly, Harry folded the pieces of stationary together and placed them back in the envelope. He had the heavy urge to yell and scream about the injustices of it all. He also wanted to have Sirius sitting next to him, offering words of comfort and silent support. For all intents and purposes, he had two mothers and an unknown father. It also meant that Grandma and Grandpa Evans weren't even blood relations. His Aunt Petunia was not a blood relation. The only two people he knew he was related to were his two mothers, Lily and Dahlia. Quickly, he scrambled out of his bed, pulling things out left and right until he found his first year charms book. Opening it to the front cover, he easily found Hermione's phone number. He had forgotten about it completely since the moment that Ron had tried to call him and his Uncle Vernon had gotten mad about the whole thing. Still, he desperately needed to talk to someone.

It was a weekend but he knew that Vernon was already away at work, pulling an extra shift. Dudley also was typically at Piers' house by now, as he had been most of the summer. Something told him that his aunt would not refuse him a small telephone call. Moments later, he found he was correct and sat down at the kitchen with the cordless phone in his hand, shakily dialing his best friend's phone number.

"Hello, Grangers residence."

"H-hello, Mr. Granger. Is Hermione there? This is Harry." Harry cringed at how his voice sounded, hesitant and scratchy.

"I'm sorry, lad. Hermione's with the Weasleys for the rest of the summer. Didn't she tell you?"

"N-no. Thank you anyway, sir."

Harry ended the phone call and just stared at the phone in his hands. He had finally realized how he could speak to one of his friends, and it was too late to contact her. She was already in a wizarding household where no phone was there. He choked back a sob. Last year he was angry at the world, but this year, and at this moment, he felt as though he lost everything all over again, especially Sirius and his parents. Sorrow decided to rule his heart, and there was no one to comfort him and tell him it would be alright.

Petunia looked over to her nephew when she heard him begin to cry. She knew that her letter was responsible for half those tears. Still, she could give him no comfort. There was too much between them for him to even accept it. Still...

She made her way over to Harry and pulled him up beside her, holding on to him as she began to lead him back upstairs, only stopping to place the cordless phone back in its cradle. There was no need for her Dudley to see his tears and call him on it. Boys were always ready to tease another boy who cried, even her Dudley. When they made it up to his room, she noticed the package was still unopened on the bed. As he sat down, she placed the package on his desk. She watched as he took his thin pillow and held it close to him, as though it held some hidden comfort, while he laid down.

As she left the room, she could hear Dahlia telling her how disappointed she was in her. Petunia argued back that it was Lily's fault that she and James had to go and get blown up, leaving Harry in a home that did not appreciate magic. Dahlia's voice fell silent again in favor of the one that sounded so much like Vernon. It was so much easier to just think of him as Lily's. It was too painful for him to be Dahlia's.


Grrr! I wanted Petunia's letter to be in a different font. I also wish it sounded more like Petunia's personality, but just chalk it up to her actually thinking about what she is writing on paper, rather than her sour tone coming right out of her mouth, without really thinking about it.