Friday 21st September 1991

POTTER MANOR

Hey Mom,

So Hardwin broke a bunch of school rules and was rewarded with being given a place on the Gryffindor quidditch team.

Other than that, not much of note has happened here. I have yet to be confronted by my house mates for daring to be brother to the boy-who-lived. I'm honestly not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not.

Oh and you remember that package Hagrid withdrew from Gringotts on our birthday? Well it's being kept here and guarded by a Ceberus. It was the 'most painful death' on the third-floor corridor that I wrote to you about in my first letter.

Love, Harry.

Lily put the brief letter aside with a fond smile right next to the two rolls of parchment that was Hardwin's letter. Hardwin had described how he ended up as Seeker in great detail and with excitement.

Apparently the flying lesson had been a disaster. Neville's fear for heights had increased the boy's anxiety and his magic had acted up. Before they had even been given instructions, the poor boy had been launched into the sky and had landed painfully injuring his ankle.

When he was escorted to the hospital wing by the instructor, he had dropped his newly acquired Remembrall which Draco Malfoy took hostage. The blonde Slytherin had decided to hide the ball in a tree and had taken off from the grounds only for Hadrian to rush after him to retrieve his friend's property.

He barreled into Malfoy pushing him off his broom and the blonde lost his grip on the Remembrall. Hardwin had shot after the ball and managed to save it while Malfoy just continued following. Fortunately, Harry had the presence of mind to catch the boy with a levitation spell while he fell and safely lowered him to the ground.

Lily was glad for that fact as it wouldn't have been easy to handle that storm had Malfoy been injured. Even now, she doubted the young Slytherin would let it go but she trusted Harry to handle it without involving Lucius.

Glancing at Harry's careful and elegantly written letter, she once again read the last part wondering what could be important enough or dangerous enough to warrant bringing a Ceberus into a school of teenage wizards and witches.

Whatever it was, she decided to let Harry concern himself with it for now given that she wasn't much in a position to do anything about it no thanks to her blood status and lack of husband.

Same Day, Hogwarts.

Harry waited patiently in a room not very far from the owlery standing in the doorway under the Invisibility Cloak. It had taken a lot of convincing and hints on throwing around his Heirship to have Lily let him come with the Cloak.

Not for the first time, Harry wished he had the Marauder's map that Sirius told him had been caught by Filch. Harry had raided the squib's office in the second week but had come up with nothing.

Clearly someone had taken the map for themselves, or maybe Filch thought it was just normal parchment and had thrown it away. Either way, it would have been real useful right about now and Harry planned to make one of his own by third year.

Malfoy had bragged about how he was going to have his father have Hardwin expelled and knowing that Lucius Malfoy was head of the Board of Governors, it was possible for the man to make Hardwin's life very difficult and Harry wasn't going to let that happen.

The moment Malfoy finished his lunch, and since the Slytherins and Gryffindors had Draco had immediately set off for the owlery to send his father a letter. Harry had followed him untill he was sure the blonde was really going to the owlery before he branched and used a shorter route.

Still under the cloak, he found an empty classroom on the way that would be the ideal place to intercept Draco and his bodyguards. He heard voices coming and he tightened the Cloak around himself, wand sliding out of its holster though he still remained in the doorway out of sight.

The moment Draco reached the door, Harry pointed his wand at him and whispered_"Confundo!"

It was a bit more complicated for a first year but Harry wasn't your normal first year, not to mention he had practiced the spell quite well enough that he was sure that he could pull it off.

Sure enough, Malfoy suddenly stopped. "You know what, knowing Dumbledore, the old coot will probably excuse his golden boy unless he has no way of weaseling his pet out of trouble."

"What will you do?" Crabbe asked and Draco smirked at him.

"I think I know a way that will ensure that Potter leaves Hogwarts for good!" He said and turned around heading back where he had just come from. "And I get to kick his ass before then."

Harry watched the trio walk away with a satisfied smile before turning and heading for his now weekly Friday meeting with Granger. Draco thought he was being smart while plotting against his brother, he will be getting a rude awakening. And his brother will hopefully learn to think before acting.

Saturday 22nd February 1991

Hogwarts Kitchen

Harry was already finished with his breakfast and was calmly sitting at the table when Hardwin burst through the door. He slunped into the seat opposite and winced at the look Harry was giving him.

"You were challenged to a duel, let the challenger set all the terms and showed up for said duel, after curfew, and never had the presence of mind to inform me?" Harry hissed, green eyes bright with fury. "What were you thinking!"

"I wasn't." Hardwin mumbled.

"Clearly." Harry shook his head and stood up. "Do you have any idea what could have happened? You could have been expelled! Or worse! Malfoy could have come with seventh years, students who hold you responsible for their fathers being in Azkaban! What would you have done then!?"

"Sorry."

"Sorry?" Harry snorted. "Sorry isn't going to help you, brother. Any of those things happening to you would have broken mom's heart and yet you didn't think even a single moment about her, did you? All you thought about was humiliating Draco Malfoy and the inflation of your already gigantic ego. Wasn't being made Seeker enough for it?"

"When you regain your upper faculties, perhaps then we shall sit down and talk like respectable members of House Potter but till then, try to think of your priorities brother, its the least you can do." Harry stalked towards the door and paused before he could open it. "Oh and you will write mom about your latest bout of idiocy or I will."

Harry left and Hardwin closed his hands onto fists as he tried not to cry at Harry's harsh words. What made it worse was the fact that he knew Harry had been right on every single point. He hadn't stopped to think for even a second before his actions the whole of yesterday.

Not in the morning when he flew after Malfoy, not when he was being given the position of seeker, not when he was being challenged and most definitely not when he decided to show up for the duel alongside Neville, Ron and Granger.

He never once considered what could come out of his actions. Definitely didn't consider how his actions could have affected their mother. Hardwin's worst fear was to hurt his mom. He would never live with himself if he did and Harry knew it, perhaps that was why he had used her to make his point.

"Hey." A soft voice saidfrom next to him and Hardwin turned to look at Tonks' concerned face. "Trouble in paradise? I just ran into Harry setting fire on a Hufflepuff firstie."

Hardwin choked on his saliva. "What?"

Tonks laughed. "He hadn't reached that far yet but if the lad had stayed in his path any longer, I'm sure he would be ashes."

Tonks became serious though, literally. The laughing lines disappeared and she peered at him in concern.

"What happened, did you guys fight?" She asked wiping away tears Hardwin hadn't realized were on his cheeks. "I know only a fight with you would make him lose his composure that much."

Hardwin told her everything starting from yesterday's flying lesson, untill the moment Harry left. Tonks let out a whistle when he was finished.

"He sure was pissed, the Hufflepuff was more lucky than I had thought." Tonks laughed and Hardwin smiled despite everything. "Lily was a low blow though, but he was right about everything. You gotta admit haven't been doing alot of thinking recently."

"You don't say?" Hardwin snarked sarcastically and Tonks shuddered dramatically. "What?"

"You sure are twins. For a moment there I thought Harry had come back." She transformed into Harry's copy and stared at him imperiously and drawled in Harry's voice. "Your sense of humor will be the death of us. Your impertinence and lack of decorum even more so."

Hardwin laughed and was joined later by Tonks. When they had finished, Tonks looked at spoke up.

"You know, you should go and talk to him."

"I guess." He sighed. "I just hope he won't bite my head off."

"He is probably flying to cool his head and knowing Harry, he knows that you were almost eaten by a bloody Ceberus." She said softly. "He is pissed at himself by the fact that you could have died and he wasn't in any position to do anything. And when he is pissed, he lashes out at the nearest target and that target happened to be you this time."

Hardwin nodded having come to the same conclusion. "Thanks, Tonks."

"Anytime kid." Her now emerald eyes took on a mischievous glint. "Not to mention my duty as an Auror is to help important people in the magical world and the boy-who-lived is probably as important as any wizard can get."

"Oh bugger off!"

Harry landed softly next to his brother who was standing watching the black lake. Hardwin looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a school broom?"

Harry looked at the old broom in his hand shook his head. "Not anymore, it isn't."

"How did you even get it, I thought they were locked away somewhere secure?"

"Sirius told me where they are kept." He replied as he sat down next to him. "As for being locked up, nothing a highly powerful Alohomora couldn't pass."

There was a moment of silence as Harry considered his words carefully.

"I think I was a little too harsh on you." He started slowly. "I shouldn't have brought in mom_"

"No Harry." Hardwin interrupted him. "You were right, I could have been killed by that Ceberus and that would have hurt her more than anything Voldemort or anyone could do."

Harry nodded, not even bothering to hide his relief. He didn't want to alienate his brother just because he couldn't control his anger.

"Don't tell mom." Hardwin suddenly said, breaking the silence and Harry's lips stretched into a smile.

"I wasn't planning to." He chuckled. "The look on your face when I gave you the ultimatum though was patronus-worthy."

"Oh, hilarious."

"It was." Harry agreed. "I believe I'll be sharing the momory with Tonks."

"You wouldn't!" He stared at him in horror.

"Oh, I most definitely will." Harry replied, his smile becoming predatory. "Or I can just get a more humiliating one."

Hardwin dived to the side just as a pink spell erupted from Harry's wand and barely dodged it. He had no idea what the spell did but he wasn't planning on finding out. He dodged again to the left before stopping in the process and diving to his back as three more came his way.

Scrambling to his feet, Hardwin summoned his wand took a stance when Harry's onslaught paused. He could feel his blood pumping, his body tingling with adrenaline as he prepared himself for the fight.

"Incendio!" Hardwin incanted when ropes suddenly erupted from Harry's wand and they caught on fire before they could reach him.

He shot to the right, fired a stunner at Harry then moved back to his earlier position and fired and snapped off a two more bofere he was forced to duck the three stunners that came right after the other in his position and on either of his sides.

As he rose back, he fired a nonverbal body-bind followed swiftly by magical ropes. Harry leaned to the left and the body-bind passed by him harmlessly while at the same time he brandished his wand like a whip and a small gust of wind blew the conjured ropes right back at Hardwin.

Hardwin dodged his ropes but unfortunately ran into the path of a body-bind.

"Finite!" He incanted before he could fall completely and just as he felt the spell lose effect, he saw the familiar crimson of a stunner before his world went black.

"Bloody hell." Hardwin breathed when he was jolted awake, his nerves still tingling from the after effects of an enervate. "You've gotten faster."

"No." Harry shook his head. "You've gotten slower, as have I. We are out of practice, something that needs to be remedied."

"What was that spell you used to blow the ropes back at me?" Hardwin asked. "You've never used it before."

"It's called the Ventus jinx, an elemental spell that obviously conjures wind. The strenght of the wind depends on the power you put behind it." Harry explained.

"Elemental spell?"

"They're spells that allow one to control the elements. While a little tricky to cast, they require less power than limited spells and are faster to take effect." Hardwin raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned. "I plan on integrating elemental spells into my fighting style."

Hardwin pushed himself to his feet. "How are we going to be doing this practice thing?"

"I've been looking for an suitable room but the ones have found so far aren't as good as I wanted so I'll tell you when I have." Harry replied before he retrieved the school broom from where he had placed it when he arrived. "See you around then."

Harry jumped on the broom and shot off into the direction of the forbidden forest to do only Merlin knows what.

Halloween 1991,

Charms Classroom

Hogwarts.

"You're saying it wrong," Hardwin heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

He shook his head at the girl who was paired with Ron and seeing the boy's ears heat up, he knew it wouldn't end well for any parties involved.

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads. Hardwin was capable of performing the spell silently but he really wasn't in the mood for showing off today and let Granger have her moment.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Hardwin as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Someone knocked into Hardwin as they hurried past and barely stopped himself from snapping at them when he saw who it was. It was Hermione and when he caught a glimpse of her face was startled to see that she was crying.

"I think she heard you." Neville frowned at the redhead.

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"Doesn't give you the right to shout it in her face!"

"Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because she is a Gryffindor and I don't know if you've forgotten but while at Hogwarts, our housemates are our family!" Neville snapped at the boy. "She has been excluded in everything and she is doing her best to fit in. I would have thought you of all people would understand."

Having said his part, Neville roughly pushed past the redhead and walked away. When Ron's eyes seeked him out in support, Hardwin just shook his head at him in disappointment before following after his friend, not in the mood to deal with Ron.

Today, while the Wizarding world celebrated the death of Voldemort, they all forgot way happened to the family that caused it. It wasn't exactly the most favorite day in the year for the Potters and knowing how much it affected his mom, Hardwin couldn't it in find himself to join the festive mood at Hogwarts.

He took his lunch in the kitchens and didn't bother to show up for the afternoon lessons. He tried to look for Harry but it was like his brother wasn't even in the castle. He decided to spend his afternoon wondering the less frequented parts of the castle and by dinner time, he had found about five prospective rooms for their dueling practice.

Not wishing to get into any more trouble, Hardwin headed back to the Great hall for the Halloween feast. He had just reached the first floor when a foul stench reached his nostrils and he heard lumbering footsteps coming around the corner.

Recognizing it for what it was, Hardwin looked around and saw a girl's bathroom. He immediately opened and slipped in as fast as possible before locking the door with a locking charm.

He waited with baited as the footsteps came nearer and stopped at the entrance of the bathroom. He held his breath, praying to Merlin, Morgana and Meave that the troll would move on and just as he thought he would run out of oxygen, he heard the troll's footsteps.

The troll had taken like three steps from the door when a stall opened behind Hardwin and a girl screamed loudly. Spinning around, he came face to face with an angry Hermione Granger.

"THIS IS A GIRLS' BATHROOM, YOU IDIOT!" The girl had a set of lungs on her and unfortunately for them, the troll wasn't deaf.

Hardwin slapped his hand on her mouth just as she opened it again but the damage had already been done. The door exploded inward and the troll lumbered in. It's small head turned and it saw the two of them. Hermione screamed once again as she scrambled back into her stall pulling Hardwin with her.

As he turned back, Hardwin racked his brain for something to help him but all he could remember was that trolls were magically resistant.

'Harry, I need you!' Hardwin though furiously as the troll covered the distance between the door and their hidding spot. Large fingers gripped the stall's door and ripped it away before it raised its club.

"Protego!" Hardwin cried and a transparent shield appeared infront of them. He grunted as the club impacted the shield and he could feel his body shake with the impact. The shield held though, but he wasn't sure if it could take another hit from the troll's club.

He positioned himself infront of Hermione so he could take the most damage when the shield failed and braced himself, eyes closed as it raised its club again.

"Ventus!" Hardwinopened his eyes just in time to see the troll being lifted from the ground by a powerful gust of wind and thrown away from the entrance of the stall. There was a crunch as the troll impacted the stone wall of the bathroom.

Small footsteps echoed in the suddenly silent bathroom and Harry appeared at the stall's entrance. He threw the Invisibility Cloak at him with a pointed look. Hardwin caught the cloak and wrapped it around himself and Granger just as more footsteps were heard.

"Mr. Potter!" Said McGonagall. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just leaving actually." Harry replied smoothly. "Now if you'll excuse me?"

"Oh, no you don't, Mr. Potter." McGonagall stopped him when he made to step around her. "Why weren't you at the Halloween feast and why are you with an unconscious troll in a girls bathroom?"

"I wasn't at the feast because I didn't feel like celebrating the day my father was taken from me." Harry said flatly and Hardwin could see McGonagall grimacing. "As for the troll, I was heading back to the dungeons when I ran into it. I hid in this bathroom but it followed me in here and I knocked it out."

"And how did you do that, Potter?" Hardwin heard Snape ask.

"Well professor, it was mostly luck but there was a bit of magic involved."

Hardwin stiffled a snort at Harry's answer.

"What Professor Snape is asking is the process you used to knock it out."

"I used wind and threw it into the wall."

"That... actually works." Flitwick squeaked. "Ten points to Slytherin for surviving, Mr. Potter. Not many eleven-year-olds can walk away from a troll unscathed."

"Thank you professor." Harry nodded gracefully. "Now if that's all, I would like to go and get some sleep."

Harry stepped around the three professors before they could recover and left. Five minutes later, the professors finally left with Flitwick levitating the unconscious troll behind them. Hardwin saw Snape limping slightly as he left the bathroom.

Hardwin waited with a surprisingly quiet Hermione, knowing Harry hadn't gone far and sure enough, one minute after the professors had left, soft footsteps echoed in the bathroom. Harry appeared outside the stall and Hardwin pulled off the cloak.

"You guys okay?" Hardwin nodded silently and the cloak back to Harry. "Well, let's get you back to your tower."

He followed Harry with Hermione having a tight grip on his hand. Harry led them through unfamiliar hallways and corridors and in less time than he though possible, they had reached the fat lady's portrait.

"You're a Slytherin." The fat lady said as she stared at Harry's green trimmed robes. He ignored her and looked at Hermione who was just staring at him.

"You've been surprisingly quiet, Granger." The use of her name seemed to have snapped her out of her stupor as she leaped at him and engulfed him in a tight hug mumbling 'thank you' over and over. "You really should be thanking Hardwin, I might not have found you if it weren't for him."

Hardwin huffed as the girl slammed into him and also wrapped him in a bone crushing hug. He glared at Harry whose eyes were twinkling at him.

"Well, seeing that you little Cubs are tucked in, I'll be heading back." Harry said and swiftly left with a small satisfied smile before he could reply. Not that he would have even if he had wanted as he was nearly running out of air.

Even as Harry disappeared, Hardwin knew that Hermione was no longer just an annoying girl that tried to compete with him. You don't come out a life and death situation without becoming friends. He wondered how Harry fit in the equation though.

"He did that on purpose!" Blaise shouted besides Harry as Hardwin struggled to get his broom back in control after Flint had slammed into him. "Something like that should be against the rules!"

Let it not be said that Blaise Zabini doesn't like a fair game.

"Well, if Potter can't handle a little roughhousing then he shouldn't be up there." Nott drawled before shouting in celebration as Slytherin scored once again.

"I think he just took your words to heart." Tracey Davis snickered as Hardwin's broom started raising high while twitching every which way.

"Something is wrong with his broom." Harry mumbled quietly and his voice was lost as the Slytherins around him celebrated yet another time. He turned his omnioculars to the section where the teachers were seated easily spotted Quirrell and Snape.

One of the two teachers was cursing Hardwin's broom and the other was trying to counter it. Harry couldn't tell which one was doing what though and he was just about to do something when Snape's robes caught fire. The Slytherin head of house jumped and knocked over Quirrell.

Before he looked away, Harry saw a head of bushy hair run away. Looking back at Hardwin, he saw his brother was nolonger having problems and in time as well as he took a dive for the snitch.

He was almost on the ground when he suddenly hopped off his broom and landed on all fours. He doubled over like he was going to be sick before coughing and the snitch jumped from his mouth. Hardwin caught and shouted that he had got it and the game ended.

"He swallowed it!" Nott protested and Zabini nodded in agreement but the game was done.

Amidst the protests, the group of Slytherins walked back to the dungeons but Harry was deep in thought. Either Snape or Quirrell had just tried to kill his brother and that couldn't just be left to stand.

20th December 1991

Hogwarts grounds

"Snape is trying to steal whatever is being guarded by the Ceberus." Hardwin said as he sat down ext to Harry at the edge of the frozen black lake.

Harry was lying on the ground which was suspiciously free of snow, his eyes closed.

"And that concerns me how?"

"What?"

"How does Snape stealing something concern me?" Harry repeated. "Shouldn't you be telling Sirius or someone in law enforcement?"

"But...it could be valuable!"

"All the more reason to tell Sirius then."

"Well I can't just tell him without proof." He sighed as he mirrored his brother. "If only I had a way to prove that he had been cursing my broom."

"You think it was Snape?"

"I know it was Snape." Hardwin said with conviction. "He could have killed me if Hermione had not set his robes on fire."

"Well, no need to cry over spilled milk." Harry replied, unconcerned. "I'm sure there will be other opportunities."

Hardwin raised his head and pushed himself to his elbows. "You're not concerned?"

Harry considered his words carefully. "I'm not sure it was Snape."

"Then who else could it have been?"

"That's what I plan to find out."

He waited for Harry to clarify but got nothing. "You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

"Nope."

Hardwin sighed and went back on his back revelling in the warmth of the small circle. He wondered if Harry had started practicing wards and had warded the circle from the cold. Every time he had seen his brother, he had been having a book on wards near him.

"Have you ward_"

"Protego!" Harry suddenly said cutting him off and a translucent shield appeared just in time to intercept a large snow ball which was followed swiftly by ten small ones that all hit the shield harmlessly.

"Hey, no magic!" Tonks shouted from behind them just as Harry shot to his feet, wand pointed at her. "Put that thing away right this instant!"

"I think not." Harry flicked his wand and a wave of snow rose and fell on Tonks covering her whole body, he pink hair also transforming into a silvery white. Harry grinned at her sputtering form. "Alright there, Snow White?"

Tonks waved her wand and five snowballs detached themselves from the ground and flew at Harry at ridiculous speed. Harry dived to the ground just before the first ball reached him and all five passed right above him. Right into Hardwin's face.

Tonks clearly hadn't expected that and was looking at Hardwin in apology. Harry though was smirking widely as he stepped next to his brother.

"Well, now you've done it." Harry taunted the white haired witch. "My brother is not one to take something like that lying down."

Knowing that Harry had done it intentionally as he could have easily used a shield, Hardwin couldn't suppress a grin of his own as he drew his wand and pointed it at Tonks. He stared at her in the eyes and she grinned in return, raising her own wand and seven balls rose into the air before they shot at the two brothers.

Harry raised his wand but Hardwin was ready and his had shot forward and plucked Harry's wand from his hand. Harry turned to stare at Hardwin in betrayal just as the first snawball reached him. He recovered fast though and suddenly grabbed him.

Hardwin squawked as Harry barreled into him and the twins fell down. Hardwin's back was turned to the direction of the balls and he was peppered by the rain of snow. When they stopped, Harry grabbed his wand and still on his knees, turned it at him.

"Ventus!" Hardwin knew what was coming the moment he heard the now familiar incantation and cursed as he was lifted from the ground and tossed away from his brother. He was sent flying into different directions by the mini tornado before landing on a laughing Tonks.

"Need a hand?" Tonks grinned down at him where she was lying on top.

"How did you end up on top anyway?" He stared at the witch incredulously. "I remember being the one to fall on you!"

Tonks wiggled her eyebrows at him suggestively and Hardwin started blushing before she even started speaking.

"Well, you see when a man_" Tonks suddenly looked up, and dived off him just as large snow ball fell on Hardwin.

"Oh, come on! Protego!" He incanted as more smaller snowballs shot at them. He stood up, his shield firmly in place as it was peppered by more snowballs which suddenly cut off.

"What happened?" He asked peering around the shield on to get a face full of snow. "Bugger, Tonks a little help?"

Tonks stood up, wand ready and was hit with a medium sized snowball in the back of the head. "The hell?"

She ducked just as another nearly hit her face and unfortunately, Hardwin ended up being the recipient. "This is getting ridiculous."

"You guys need a hand?" Neville who was standing behind them asked with a smile. "If that's the case then I'm sorry but I'll be siding with Harry in this one."

From there on, Hardwin stopped keeping track of the fight. He and Tonks tried to keep up with the other two but with Tonks' lack of grace, they were clearly struggling. At some point, Hermione joined Hardwin's side followed by Ron. From there it became one sided for about thirty seconds before Zabini, Harry's roommate joined him and Neville.

Nearly an hour later, both groups were lying in the snow laughing and shivering with pink faces. Hardwin saw the genuine happiness on Harry's face and smiled to himself. With school breaking off tomorrow, he knew his brother must be real excited to openly show his emotions like that.

All in all, he couldn't wait to board the Hogwarts Express tomorrow.

AN: I plan on concluding first year in the next chapter.