Although he would never admit it, Draco Malfoy was at a loss.
Normally, he and his fellow Slytherins would be rejoicing at Harry's absence. Not having the Golden Boy around meant that Draco had the spotlight all to himself, while Weasley and the mudblood Granger moped and worried. It was everything he'd wished for for all of these years.
But something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something wasn't right.
So, when he heard the two of them whispering in urgent tones in a deserted hallway on his way back to the Slytherin common room after dinner, it was with more than idle curiosity that he moved silently into hearing range of their conversation.
"It's just horrid, Ron," Hermione was whispering. "To have to grow up and live like that…"
"And as a squib after age seventeen. I can't imagine what that would be like."
"Oh, Muggles do fine without magic, so he'd be OK. What I worry about is what happens when he realizes that he's lost his magic for the rest of his life."
Ha! Draco thought. Potter's lost his magic, then? No wonder they're keeping him hidden away like that…
"What little life he'll have left. Weeks? Can you imagine growing up, growing old, and dying in a matter of weeks? And doing it knowing that your sole purpose in life is to exist so that someone else can live?"
Draco inched closer.
"I saw a Muggle movie late one night a long time ago. Terrible movie. The idea was that rich people could pay to have themselves cloned so that when they got old or had an accident or something, the clones would have the spare parts they needed to get them healthy again. One of these clones tries to escape. It was horrid. I really felt for the poor man."
"Are they really … you know, people?"
"Ron Weasley! How can you say that?"
"Sssssh!"
"They're as much people as you or me. Snape says that as he grows older, he'll remember more and more of Harry's life, so he'll be just like you or me."
"Until he dies at the ripe old age of six weeks or whatever."
"After he has his magic taken away and put in Harry's head. Poor Jimmy."
Draco slipped away, and made his way to the door of the hospital ward. He poked his head inside. Pomfrey seemed to have gone to bed already, as the ward was deserted except for one bed.
He walked up to the bed, and stared at the white face on the pillow. Harry's scar seemed that much more prominent against the bloodless skin. His breathing was regular and shallow. But Draco knew from what he'd heard that this wasn't the whole story. He raised his head and looked around.
"Aperti," he murmured, and a bookcase slid sideways to reveal a small doorway. His eyebrow raised in surprise, and he crossed the room.
He put his head through the door, and his jaw dropped open.
For the next few days, the little room was home to a very rapidly growing little boy. Pomfrey found that she had to enlarge his clothing every several hours to accommodate Jimmy's rapid growth. Despite his unusual origins, he seemed the picture of perfect health.
When Jimmy had grown to about four years old or so, Dumbledore stopped by to test his magical levels.
"Poppy, the boy is just as powerful as Harry," he beamed as he finished the last test. "Perhaps even more powerful, since he's been properly looked after. Imagine what Harry could have been if the Dursleys had taken care of him." He bounced little Jimmy on his knee, and the boy laughed.
"He is a darling little thing," Pomfrey agreed.
"Where's Duddy?" asked little Jim.
"Dudley and your aunt and uncle aren't here, Jimmy," Pomfrey said, lifting the boy off of Dumbledore's lap and placing him at his little table. "You're staying with us for a little while."
Jim nodded. "That's good. I like you. I don't want Duddy."
"Well, we're glad to have you here, Jimmy," Dumbledore said as he sat down in a small chair next to the boy. "You can stay as long as you want." Pomfrey looked at him sharply as she put a glass of milk and a plate of cookies on the table, but Dumbledore ignored her and smiled at the black-haired boy.
"Really, Uncle Albus?"
"Really, Jimmy."
He felt little arms wrap themselves around his waist. "Thank you, Uncle Albus."
Dumbledore smiled in a way he hadn't smiled in decades.
The next day, it was time to start Jimmy's schooling. Lupin began the morning with Jimmy in his little room, with a stack of books. As it turned out, all that Lupin had to do was to remind Jimmy of things, and he would remember. He remembered how to read, how to add numbers…how to do all of the things that Harry had been taught in school.
Now that's magic at a level that none of us will ever understand, Lupin thought, as he led Jimmy through a picture book of animals of the world. The boy was engrossed in the book, naming the animals and giggling as the pictures moved and made animal noises. His black hair stood up in every direction and could not be cut or tamed, and the green eyes missed nothing.
So like his father, but with his mother's eyes. But everybody tells Harry that…told him, Lupin corrected himself.
"Uncle Remus?"
The phrase sounded odd to Lupin's ears for reasons he couldn't quite define.
"Yes, Jimmy?"
"Can you tell me about my parents?"
Lupin was unable to speak for a moment. Then, he cleared his throat. After all, he thought, I suppose they're his parents too.
"I don't remember them, Uncle Remus, and I want to know what they were like."
"Well, young Jimmy, I knew both of your parents well while we were all at Hogwarts together. That's where we are now."
"What's Hogwarts?"
"It's where we went to school. You look just like your father, you know…"
And so the morning passed. That evening, as he prepared for bed, Lupin found himself feeling more whole than he had in years.
That same afternoon, it was Snape's turn to watch over Jimmy and teach him…a duty which he would have gladly given to anyone else if he could have.
At least the little beast has learned his table manners, Snape thought as he entered the little room. Jimmy sat at his table (which Pomfrey had resized for him), finishing up the last of his lunch.
"Good morning, Uncle Severus. Want some of my egg?"
Jimmy couldn't have known, of course, that the look on "Uncle Severus's" face at that moment was one that had never been witnessed by mortal man before, and likely never would again.
"No, thank you, Mr. Potter. I have already eaten." Something inside him made him add, "But thank you for offering."
Jimmy smiled at him, and finished his egg. Snape cleaned up the dishes with a quick "Scourgify" and sat down in the chair opposite his charge.
"What are we going to study today?" Jimmy asked.
"Geography, mathematics, science, and history," Snape replied, sorting through his books.
Jimmy nodded. "I like mathematics. Things make sense."
Snape just stared. Was this really a clone of the Harry Potter that he knew?
"Can I ask you a question, Uncle Severus?"
"You just have, Mr. Potter."
Yes, that's the familiar grimace. A Potter through and through.
"I have another question."
"You may ask it."
"Why don't you like me?"
Snape stopped his sorting. The green eyes were staring at him as if they could bore holes into his soul. He realized that he would have to be truthful with the boy.
"Why do you think that I don't like you?"
"You don't call me Jimmy, you call me Mr. Potter, and you don't smile at me and you act all funny when you're around me."
"If you think I don't like you, why do you think I would want to answer your question?"
Jimmy thought for a moment or two.
"I don't know if you will. But I want to ask you. Maybe you will. I don't think that you would lie about important things."
Fair enough. It wasn't the boy's fault that his father and … brother annoyed him down to his last nerve.
"Mr…Jimmy, I neither like nor dislike you. My manner is the same around all people. I do not know you well enough to have developed an opinion about you one way or the other."
"What can I do to make you like me? I want you to like me."
"You cannot do anything to make me like you, Jimmy. You cannot force anyone to like or to dislike you. However, if you are well-behaved and not unpleasant to be around, I will continue to tolerate your presence."
Jimmy nodded at him. "Thank you, Uncle Severus."
Snape put down the stack of books and papers and stared at the boy for a moment.
"Before we begin, I want to explain something to you. Other people have their own thoughts and feelings, and it is nearly impossible to force them to change those thoughts and feelings. However, you can do things that can encourage them to like you or to dislike you. If you want people to like you, treat them well and be considerate of their needs. If the person is worthy of your respect, he or she will do the same. And if you do as your elders ask you to, they will respect your needs and wishes."
Jimmy was listening with rapt attention.
"So far, you have been courteous and responsible. If you continue to do so, I will treat you with the same consideration, and we will get along well."
"I'd like that, Uncle Severus."
Snape nearly jumped out of his skin when Jimmy wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tightly. He was even more surprised when his arms hesitantly went around the boy and returned the embrace.
What have I become? he thought to himself.
A/N: The movie Hermione refers to above is "Parts: The Clonus Horror". Those of you who watched Season Eight of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will recognize the plot. Those of you who didn't...well, as Hermione says, it's a terrible movie.