CHAPTER 1: The Second Beginning
There were no lights on. Shadows crowded the room, making it hard to see anything. But that wasn't important right now. What Henry wanted to focus on was her tiny arms, non-existent muscles and the fact she was lying in a crib.
She was trying very hard not to panic. It was hard, because this was decidedly not her bedroom and she was decidedly not in her own body. There was also a baby sharing the crib with her. It was looking at her with big, green eyes.
Deep breaths, she told herself. Don't panic. It wouldn't do much good. This was just a realistic dream.
The door flew open with a bang. The baby beside her whimpered, but a quick pat from Henry calmed it (him?) down.
A woman rushed over to them and picked the boy up. She hushed him before planting a kiss on his forehead and returning him to the crib. "Mommy loves you," she told them. "Daddy loves you lots too."
That didn't sound foreboding at all. Henry struggled to stand up and gripped the crib. "Was dis?" she asked, cursing her way too realistic body. "Was appen?"
Their apparent mum caressed her temple with a sad smile. "So curious," she murmured, disregarding Henry's question. "Mommy got you." She picked Harry up with one arm and grabbed Henry with the other before murmuring something in what Henry recognised as Latin.
Another door slamming disrupted her chanting. People were screaming bloody murder downstairs. The woman bit her lip, forcing back tears and began chanting again. She was almost finished when the door flew off its hinges and into the wall. All three of them screamed.
"Twins?" a raspy, ugly voice hissed.
The woman practically threw Henry and the baby (twins? Had she heard that right?) in the crib and faced whoever had disturbed them.
"Don't touch my children."
"Move away, woman. I'm not interested in you."
While they talked, Henry moved sideways to look at the person belonging to the oddly familiar voice. She gasped when her eyes landed on a white, bald Voldemort.
What? What the hell?
His glowing red eyes met hers and he blinked. "I'm sure the prophecy didn't mention twins…" he mused before turning back to their mum. "Move or I'll do it for you."
"Over my dead body!"
Henry stared up at her. At her mother. At Lily Potter. This was one weird dream—
"Then perish. Avada Kedavra!"
Green lightning shot out from his wand and hit Lily square in the chest. She crashed into the crib, sending it tumbling to the floor. Henry and Harry (oh God it was Harry Potter oh God) gently landed on some fallen pillows.
"Ajjy!" Henry gasped and crawled over to the boy. He cried and grabbed her as soon as she reached him. She moved to stand in front of him. "Nyo! Bad you!"
Voldemort loomed over the crib with a sneer. "Disgusting creature."
"Nyo, you!" Henry shot back seconds before he raised his wand at her face. Wait, what? High time to wake up! "Don—"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Green filled her vision. Something sharp and hard hit the bridge of her nose and travelled like cracks in a stone across her face. The majority of the curse shot to the right, up her forehead right at Harry. Their screams of pain mixed with that of Voldemort's.
But dear Lord, the Killing Curse wasn't supposed to hurt!
She woke up sometime later. It was still dark, so she figured it hadn't been that long. Forcing herself to sit up, she scanned the wrecked room for Harry. If this wasn't a dream (which she highly doubted because it made no sense), he might be badly hurt.
"Enjy," he cried quietly. She followed his voice and grabbed his bloody hand. Actually, taking a better look at him revealed his whole face was covered in it. She couldn't be looking any better.
Ignore it. She swallowed the pain and made him follow her around the crib. Lily lay awkwardly against it, unmoving and not breathing. Henry poked her thigh. When she didn't stir, she moved to her stomach where she sat down. This was her first time seeing a dead person. Lily had no wounds and there were no signs of the Killing Curse. It looked like she was sleeping.
"Mommy," Harry whimpered and pressed his face against Lily's ribs. "Mommy, wakey."
Henry bit her lip to stop it from quivering. She was a twenty-one-year-old university student—she had to be the strong one. Even though she didn't want to.
If they tried, they could probably make it down the stairs. But where would they go next? Godric's Hollow wasn't close to either the Dursleys, Remus or Sirius. If they wandered outside now, they'd die or be picked up by strangers. But if they stayed, Dumbledore was definitely sending them to the Dursleys. Henry sure as hell didn't want to be abused by them for ten years before going to Hogwarts—if the dream (yes it was a dream) got that far, that is.
"Daddy? Wheje daddy?"
Oh shit. She'd forgotten about him. James was downstairs somewhere, most definitely also dead. She glanced at Lily. She really didn't want to come across him too.
What to do? Leave or stay? Follow the known or unknown?
She groaned and leaned against Lily, mimicking Harry. At least if they were handed over to the Dursleys, she knew what to expect. Maybe she could counter it somehow. Yes, let the Dursleys know the wrath of a one-year-old. Or… how old was she exactly? One and a half?
They stayed curled up against Lily, sharing the last of her warmth before it faded forever, for quite awhile. They were dozing off when someone entered the house and quickly ran up the stairs, which was what woke them up. A disheveled and distraught Sirius stopped at the doorway, taking in the scene.
"Lily," he sobbed and fell on his knees. That's when he noticed the blood on the twins. "Oh Merlin!" He gathered them in his arms and cleaned their faces with a spell. Then he hissed. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I thought… I thought we could… He was our friend."
"Iijus," Henry called and grabbed his shirt. "Hejp."
He nodded, with a last regretful look at Lily, and picked them both up. "I want you to close your eyes, okay? There's some scary stuff down there." Meaning, James' body. Got it. She closed her eyes and let Sirius take them out the room, through the corridor, down the stairs where he slowed to move carefully around something (James, undoubtedly) before high-tailing it out into the cold night air.
Harry was fast asleep, but Henry was wide awake. She looked at the broken house and then at Sirius. "Head hujt."
"I know, little fawn, I know. Uncle Sirius will get help."
She nodded before looking ahead of them. "Scajed."
"Don't be. Uncle will help you."
No you won't. He would go after Pettigrew and get blamed for his crimes. Was there a way to save him? If she did, Harry wouldn't have to stay with the Dursleys, at least in this dream.
"Iijus?" He glanced at her. "Don go afej Pee-ej." The pure horror on his face would have been funny if not for the current situation. "Pomise!"
"How did you— Nevermind… But Henry, he hurt your parents." He kissed her temple. "Uncle will bring justice to them and then you can come live with me, alright?"
"Nyo!" she said and shoved at his cheek. "Don do that! Nyo! Nyo, nyo, nyo, nyo!"
Sirius' frown turned sad. "Alright… I promise. Let's get you to St. Mungo's."
Henry smiled tiredly and nuzzled his neck. Her eyelids grew heavy until she couldn't keep them open anymore.
Please, let that be enough.
The next time she regained consciousness, she was in another unfamiliar room. It had a white ceiling and baby blue wallpaper with funny animals on it. She poked her head up from the crib she was laying in and saw Harry still sleeping in the one next to her. Thank God. She didn't know what to do if they got separated.
A door opened and a nurse walked inside. They looked at each other for a moment before the nurse said something incoherent and ran off. Henry tried to arch a brow but ended up scrunching up her whole face. Which hurt. A lot.
Harry woke with a start at the sound of her crying. He reached for her and tried his best to cheer her up. That's what the healer and nurse saw when they came back; the twins holding hands and crying.
They were taken to another room for examinations. They were poked a lot and had wands shoved in their faces. Henry especially wasn't fond of that and immediately swatted at them. Mostly she cried, too. She couldn't help it, her body reacted on its own.
From what she heard the healers say, there wasn't any lasting damage on either of them, save for the horrendous scars cracking their faces like marble. They were brought before a mirror to see their new faces. Henry gaped at the sight. Screw Harry's puny little ziggzagg scar from the movies, these were real lightning bolts. And they were impossible to hide. Great.
They slept a lot. Henry wasn't sure how long they were there for, but she guessed a week before Hagrid was allowed to get them. From the eyes of a tiny toddler, he looked as big as a house. She was so surprised she cried, which made him less than popular in Harry's eyes (you know, big scary monster making his sister cry and all that). But Hagrid bribed them with candy and put them in that flying motorcycle she remembered from the movies.
Seeing the night sky of London from up above was both amazing and utterly terrifying. It was at that moment Henry remembered something about herself.
She had acrophobia.
By the time they reached Privet Drive, Harry was sound asleep in his basket and Henry was sure several years had been taken from her life. Even though she was terrified of living with the Dursleys, she was happy the flight of death had ended without her joining her new parents in the afterlife.
Dumbledore and McGonagall were waiting for them. The Headmaster picked up her new brother, who was asleep yet again, and hummed in satisfaction. McGonagall pulled Henry into her arms and they had a short staring contest (which Henry won).
"Iijus?" she asked and looked around. Had he kept his promise not to go after Pettigrew? She sobbed when she didn't see him.
"Aw, poor thing," said McGonagall and patted her head. "Sirius Black is… occupied… right now."
"Vy?"
The Deputy Headmistress looked to Dumbledore for help.
He chuckled goodnaturedly, which only served to piss Henry off. It wasn't a laughing-matter! Sirius could seriously die out there.
"Sirius Black, I'm afraid, is to be prosecuted for helping the criminal that gave you that scar to find you," he explained. "Is that a good answer?"
She wanted to say no. She wanted to tell him it was Pettigrew that did it, which he, by the way, should know, since he cast the Fidelius Charm. But he'd probably wipe her memories or something. McGonagall and Hagrid wouldn't listen to a toddler's words either.
So she pouted. "I vant Iijus."
"Now now," was Dumbledore's reply before placing Harry in a transfigured basket. McGonagall placed her in another one. "Be a good girl and sleep." He poked her forehead and she felt a cold, foreign something enter her. That coiling thing was quickly dealt with by something warm that moved inside her body. Was it magic? It felt weird.
She pretended to fall asleep.
"Albus, are you sure we should leave them here?" McGonagall asked quietly. "I've been watching these Muggles all day—they're the worst sort there is."
"That may be, but they're the twins' only living family. Better they grow up with them than in a world where they will never know peace."
Excuse me? Never know peace? What poetic bullshit!
The three of them left soon after. If Harry'd been awake, she would have said screw it and walked away, unknown or known future be damned. She wasn't about to become a living martyr. By now she was pretty sure this wasn't a dream at all, which meant that not only had she no idea how she'd gotten here or what happened to her body and family, but that everything that happened so far was very real. In the coming years, she'd be facing off with Voldemort and his followers more than once. The possibility of her dying was too big to ignore anymore.
She tried to look at Harry, but the blanket was so tightly wrapped around her she couldn't even leave if she wanted to. It was up to her to prepare him for the coming war. It was up to her to protect him from harm. Starting with the Dursleys.
A twig snapped. Gravel moved from the road as someone approached them. Henry braced herself for a concerned neighbour seeing them, for a kidnapper to take them, anything really, except what actually greeted her.
A big black dog walked up to them and sniffed her blanket. Its eyes were dark and held intelligence far beyond that of a normal dog.
She blinked. "Iijus?" The dog gave a short nod and she beamed at him. "Ay, Iijus! Yay!"
The dog wagged its tail, obviously delighted by her reaction. It carefully licked her cheek (ew!) before laying down between the baskets. She calmed down a bit seeing that he wasn't about to leave.
So he hadn't been caught. Thank God. Did this mean he was staying with them? That he wouldn't go to Azkaban and she wouldn't have to figure out a way to get him out of there?
Her face must have given her thoughts away, because Sirius nodded once before looking at the dark road.
Feeling a little better about the situation, she slowly fell asleep.
A/N: Starting off with a short chapter! They got longer and longer the more I wrote, but I still think chapter 2 is the longest, being the only one breaking 10,000 words. So far, I have over 80,000 in total for this book, and I'm not done yet. This is turning into a behemoth.
Also, in future A/N:s, I'm shortening the title to HPATTHSH. Just writing Harry Potter and the Twin He Shouldn't Have takes half an eternity.
