Everything I Do
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Harry Potter'. All recognisable characters, content or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Harry Potter is the self-sworn protector of his younger brothers. As Jude battles the demons of their past and present, and as Angus struggles to break from his older brothers' shadows, Harry must come to terms with the reality that life for all three has become infinitely more complicated, and just as dangerous. AU.
Chapter One
"Wake up, Harry. I'm going to Hogwarts today."
Harry Potter sat up in his bed, absently thumbed off his alarm clock, and grinned at the younger of his two brothers. Angus was eleven, with their father's eyes and a blend of their parents' hair, but with a personality all of his own, and a hero worship of Harry that the older felt he didn't deserve.
"I remember, Gus," harry answered, teasing, "You've only told me a few hundred times already."
Harry swung his feet over the edge of his bed, met Angus in his doorway, and hauled the eleven year old over his shoulder. Angus shrieked his protest, and laughed when Harry began to tickle the back of his knees, but Harry didn't deposit the boy on his own feet until they'd reached the kitchen of their new home.
At the dining table, Harry was unsurprised to find Jude already there, bulldozing his way through a stack of pancakes with a single-minded focus Harry only ever saw him reserve for his adventures, or his quidditch.
It was no surprise, really, because ever since he'd finished the nutritional regiment their healer had prescribed all three of them, they'd each had massive leaps in appetites that suddenly seemed bottomless. It was just fortunate that the three of them remained active, playing football and quidditch and swimming, among other things, because none of them had any desire to wind up as their cousin had, and if Harry could help it, he'd make sure they never would.
Harry tucked himself into the breakfast their house elf, Totsy, had prepared for him, and once he'd finished, and he'd ensured his two brothers were packed and ready for school, Harry showered and dressed, ensured he himself was packed, and met Jude and Angus in the living room. Trunks were shrunk and deposited in pockets, Hedwig was sent on her way, cats were deposited in cages, Totsy was sent to the family manor, and the house was locked up, warded, and emptied.
"To Oxford St," Harry decided, "And from there, Kings Cross Station."
The trio lived in Mayfair, in a townhouse bought by their paternal grandparents. The house, called Sylvia, had been absorbed into the Potter Estate upon their passing, and twenty years later, it had been the residence Harry had chosen to move his siblings to as soon as he'd come of age. He'd taken up legal guardianship of Jude and Angus, had taken them far away from Privet Drive, and thus far, all worked well with their living arrangements.
The unfortunate shame lay in the fact that Sirius couldn't join them, and Remus, caught between a rock and a hard place - his pack brother, or his pack cubs? - had finally been coaxed to go with Sirius, travel the world and make mischief, and finally make peace with the past that haunted them both.
They'd remained in contact though, through letters and communication mirrors, and the paternal influence, unorthodox as it may be, had done wonders for the brothers, but most especially for Angus. He'd thrived under the gentle encouragement of Remus, and the boundless enthusiasm from Sirius, and Harry had never seen the boy so confident in his own skin in the ten years he had more or less raised him.
Harry was pleased to see it, undoubtedly, but a part of him - a small, jealous part of him - wondered why he hadn't been able to inspire that sort of change, too. Was he not good enough?
"What happens if I don't get sorted into Gryffindor?" Angus asked.
"Then I'll disown you," Julian deadpanned. Angus blanched, and Harry, without thought, slapped his middle brother upside the head, unimpressed.
"Nothing, Angus. It just means you'll be in a different house. No one will be disowned."
"Not by him, anyway," Jude teased. Harry raised his fist, mocked a punch to the 14 year old's jaw, and then proceeded to pull him into a headlock. Angus laughed, and Jude protested, and the knuckle sandwich was gratifying. Jude's still had a way to go before he matched Harry in height and weight, and Harry intended to take distinct advantage of that fact at every opportunity.
"Gods, you're a menace, Julian."
"I do try," Jude answered, unrepentant, and Harry rolled his eyes, long-suffering.