CHAPTER 8: OLD FRIENDS REVEAL SECRETS
Harry didn't even bother to go back to talking to his godfather and the Lupins, he knew that they would disapprove of what he had just done, and what he had just said, but quite frankly he didn't care what they thought. He just sat down next to Malfoy, who had been talking with Owen and his friends. He was content not to say anything, and just let the conversation wash over him. It was strange to listen to Malfoy talking calmly, without being malicious and nasty to anyone. Of course he knew the blond couldn't be spiteful all the time, but hearing him talking normally about such mundane topics as Quidditch, was strange. Not that he couldn't go a few minutes without insulting someone, and not just those Quidditch stars he didn't like, but in this instance his put downs were all friendly jests, unless he was talking about the Chudley Cannons, a team he seemed to genuinely dislike. It was apt that he hated Ron's favourite team just as passionately as he hated the red head, and that Harry's best friend, hated Draco's favourite team just as much as he hated the Slytherin. The fact that Malfoy's favourite team happened to be the Falmouth Falcons of "Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads" fame also seemed entirely appropriate, their motto summing up his style of play. It wasn't until Malfoy asked Harry what his favourite team was that he got involved in the conversation.
"I don't really support a team, but, Ron is a Cannons fanatic," Harry replied, "I suppose I've been led by him, but I don't actually support them, supporting a team that always loses is boring."
He was slightly disconcerted, but not particularly surprised when Malfoy started sniggering, "Weasley supports the Cannons!" he crowed, "I should have known that loser would support such a pathetic Quidditch team." He completely ignored Harry's fierce glare that was a consequence of insulting Ron. He didn't respond though, as he noticed Sam and his elder namesake approaching the group, and let them speak first.
"At least Prongs Jr. here has the sense not to support them too," the elder Harry intoned more to Draco than Harry. Turning his attention to his namesake, who had been surprised at the use of his father's nickname, he adopted a more jovial tone, "Try supporting the Wasps, James and I are both Wasps fanatics."
"Ignore him," Sam intervened, shaking his head in despair at his friend's allegiance, "He hasn't got a clue, the Catapults are far better." The elder man growled in annoyance at the insult.
"Which is why we're fourth, and you're eighth." he retorted, giving his friend a triumphant smirk, "You only support them because they're welsh."
"Well I can't help it if the Welsh are naturally superior to the English can I?" Sam replied with all seriousness, "Take Harry here," he said indicating the young Gryffindor, "He was born in Cardiff, and no-one at Hogwarts can beat him." Harry didn't protest the statement about his Quidditch skills, as he normally would, he was still recovering from the shock of finding out that, technically, he was Welsh.
"He's a Potter," his elder namesake countered, "He inherited his Quidditch skills from his English father," he continued stressing James' Englishness, "Besides just because he was born in Cardiff it doesn't mean he's Welsh. He's lived in England all his life, except for a few months, not to mention the fact that James was English."
"Oh come on," Sam argued in return. He looked exasperated, but at the same time he was clearly enjoying the argument, "He was born in Cardiff therefore he is Welsh, just like Lilly. It's simple logic, not that you'd understand it being English and a Slytherin. Besides everyone says he's far better at Quidditch than you and James ever were. Then there's the fact he's a Seeker. Since when have Potters been any good at playing Seeker? That's his Welsh, Evans, blood showing through."
"Hey," the other man protested, "I'm pretty good at playing Seeker. I just happen to be better at Chaser, that's all. Besides, has Prongs Jr. ever played Chaser? He may be a better chaser than Seeker, we just don't know."
This defence was met by a hollow laugh from Sam, "You a good seeker!" he spluttered, "Dream on. You couldn't catch the snitch if it were right in front of your face…"
"I was distracted," he protested in response, looking extremely embarrassed, even if, he wasn't blushing that much. It seems that Sam's words were more than just insults, and that he was referring to something that had actually happened.
"By What? James and Sirius were the only other people there," Sam exclaimed smirking at his best friend, "Now unless there's something else you're not telling me…" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as the elder Harry, who looked as though he was going to be sick, interrupted him.
"Sam!" the elder Harry yelled, warning and disgust both clearly evident, "James is my brother, and Sirius might as well have been. The thought of doing it with them, is," He shuddered violently at the thought, "unthinkable. And you know damn well that I'm not gay."
"My point exactly Slinker." Sam replied, laughing at his best friend's reaction to his comments, "You're a crap seeker. Why don't you just admit it?"
Harry would have laughed too, but he was still trying to process the information that the man who had talked him out of suicide and brought him to his mother's family, happened to be his father's supposedly dead elder brother. To say that Harry was surprised was an understatement. His shock had gone unnoticed by his two Uncles' who were bickering like the old friends that they obviously were. His shock hadn't gone completely unnoticed by Remus' elder brother, Romulus, who had been listening to the two old friends bickering, had seen Harry's reaction and mentioned it to them.
"Slinks," he intervened before the elder Harry had a chance to respond to his friend's question, "It might be better if you actually introduced yourself to your nephew. He seems to have gone catatonic," Harry thought he heard him add, "And he calls me the dumb Hufflepuff," under his breath, and judging by the glare that was directed towards Romulus, his namesake had heard it too.
Despite the glare, the elder Harry smiled and held out his hand, "What with everything happening I haven't actually introduced myself yet have I," he commented with a cheeriness that was obviously faked, although not because he wasn't pleased to see Harry, "The name's Harry Potter, the same as yours, but call me Slinker. Your father was my brother, which makes me your Uncle, just like Sam here."
"But aren't you supposed to be dead?" Harry asked taking the hand. He was somewhat bemused by the formality of being introduced to someone he had already met, "I mean that's what my dad's portrait said."
"That's what they were meant to think, even without my dead body" Slinker replied in a more serious tone of voice, "If they thought I was dead then they wouldn't go looking for me, and I didn't want them to find me."
"Why not?" Harry queried wondering who 'them' was; there was something strange about this man who was supposedly his Uncle. Whatever secrets Slinker held, Harry wanted to know more about him, if only to find out why he was so mysterious.
Slinker gave his nephew a wry smile in repose to his question, "That I can't tell you," he said. The sorrow shown in his facial expressions was not reflected in his tone of voice, "You'll find out eventually though. You'll have to trust me on that one."
"Why are you being so secretive?" a familiar voice drawled from besides Harry. Draco it seemed had taken an interest in the conversation, and was looking at his former rival's namesake with a curiosity that surprised Harry, especially considering how little emotion he usually showed.
The wry grin turned into a smirk, "That is a secret," he countered only half jokingly, "No seriously, if the ministry knew about our existence they'd pursue us until we were killed, which would be disastrous for us and counterproductive for them." This response made Harry even more curious, especially as to who 'us' actually was, and why exactly the ministry would hate them so much if they knew of their existence, he would have asked him, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer.
There was a short pause before Romulus asked a question, "This group?" he asked, "It wouldn't be the same group that your father was passing information to would it?"
The elder Harry grinned, "I knew you had some brains in there somewhere Wolfboy," he teased instead of answering the question.
The auror ignored the jest, preferring to question another of his theories, "And Davidson wasn't delusional. You really were talking to your father when he was struck by the killing curse? Davidson was trying to kill you, not your father"
The grin fell, "Yes," he said, the layer of guilt was clearly evident in his tone of voice, "Yes, Voldemort knew I survived his attack on the manor, and what had happened. He wanted me dead, and not just because I survived his attack. Davidson recognised me of course. How couldn't he? We shared a dorm room for seven years. He tried to fulfil his masters orders, but Dad took the curse for me, to protect me." Sam began to protest that it wasn't his best friend's fault, but a weak glare silenced him, "I know it's not my fault, but I can't help but feel guilty, as if I hadn't been there he wouldn't have died."
"Survivors guilt," Harry muttered quietly, putting the name his Uncle had used during their encounter by the river to the feeling. He recognised the tone of voice and the feeling well, in Harry's mind it was associated with the third task and Cedric's death. On the other hand, he now knew why his Uncle had been such a big help in preventing him from stupidly taking his own life, he had known exactly what Harry had been feeling, "You went through the same thing I did, didn't you?" he asked.
Slinker hung his head in shame, "I did," he replied. From the tone of voice Harry could tell he was not proud of what he was talking about, "I couldn't handle the guilt. I refused to do anything except wallow in my guilt, I even tried suicide, but they stopped me. You know it was Julian who snapped me out if it eventually…"
"Julian," Romulus exclaimed. He seemed very surprised, "But Julian's a Vampire! What would he know about survivors guilt?"
"Vampires do have souls you know. They're not all murderous monsters, some are decent people," Slinker replied firmly, "Julian's no exception, his views on killing haven't changed just because he has to kill to survive. If anything he's even more qualified to counsel about death now, as he encounters death all the time." Harry wasn't the only one surprised by the forcefulness of his argument; everyone around him was slightly stunned too.
"I didn't mean to offend you," a slightly shaken Romulus apologised, "It's just that I never really thought of it that way. I mean Vampires have to kill all the time I thought they would be desensitised to death."
"I'm not offended, there's no reason why I should be, but, Julian…" he replied, not finishing his sentence. The thought of having a Vampire after them was not nice, "Vampires are very strict about killing, far more so than humans. If they feed too often or if they kill someone for any reason other than feeding then they face the death penalty. That's why so few Vampires joined the dark lord. It's only the rogues that join, no self respecting Vampire would dream of serving him."
Romulus didn't reply to this, instead Malfoy asked another question, "Why do you know so much about Vampires?" he asked. Harry thought the answer was obvious, considering one of his friends was a Vampire.
"Julian of course," Slinker replied, "He's always going on about why Vampires are superior to humans."
Both Romulus and Sam seemed to find this funny, "Of course he thinks Vampires are better than humans," Sam surmised, "He's a Vampire with an ego the size of a Quidditch pitch. I suppose he thinks he's the best Vampire in existence too." It seemed Julian's ego was one of their internal jokes.
It was Romulus that spoke next, although not directed at his friends, but at Harry, "Remus is mighty pissed at your attitude, young man." he said, "He doesn't like all this talk of revenge, and torturing him, says you sound too much like a death eater. Not that he objects to you killing the dark lord, he just thinks that you're too obsessed with revenge, and that you should lighten up." The expression on Harry's face became unreadable, and annoyance clouded his eyes, he had expected Remus to dislike his new attitude. But even so, his reported words annoyed him to no end; this was the same werewolf, who had been willing to condone Sirius' obsession with revenge against Wormtail.
"Tell him and Sirius to stop being hypocrites," he commanded, his annoyance was clear. He glared directly at Romulus, until the auror walked away, over to his brother.
"Ignore them," Slinker advised once Romulus had walked away, "He doesn't have a clue. As long as you don't let the thought of revenge on Voldemort dominate your life, then there's no problem. If you continue to play Quidditch, and have fun you'll be fine. But the moment you let your anger and desire for revenge consume you, then you'll become the next dark lord."
There you go, some information about the Potter family, but there's still a lot more to be revealed about the Potters, the elder Harry (slinker) especially. Thank You to all those who reviewed Chapter seven. The reviews were much appreciated. You might want to check out my latest story Snake Healer: The Malfoy Muggle Lover, in which Lucius Malfoy turns out to be Harry's Father. As for the slash issue, the readers have spoken, there won't be any. Especially as the only request for slash was for Harry/Draco, which was never going to happen. Finally, Makulit, just Petunia has magic, it doesn't mean Dudley will. The fact he is a muggle, is unusually, but if we get squibs, then I'm sure we get half-bloods with no magical powers as well.