The Potter Brothers ch5 rough
Well, I seem to recall Leo finishing up for me last chapter making it the longest time he has ever spoken Is not, remember those lonely hospital nights when all you had was me to keep you company? and what company it was *rolls eyes*
Anyway, I deeply apologise for not updating in months but I have a reasonable excuse,
You heard Leo hint at it, but a few days after publishing my last chapter my hand got slammed in a door at school and was plastered up like a mummy, I had shattered one of the bones in the palmy bit of the hand REAL sciencey there Max *ignores Leo* and that takes ages to heal. As a consequence of the cast I cannot bend my fingers making it really hard for me to type, plus I was in the hospital for ages without computers. So, I have spent the last few weeks typing one handed which, while not hard, is time consuming, also I have GCSEs coming up (minor detail) so updates could remain slow for a month or two.
So, there you have it, my deeply emotional and sincere apology. Now one with the show my readers, and review with every ounce of effort you may or may not have. Anyway, yeah...
And yeah, real quick before I do start, Alternate Ron and Hermione have mysteriously disappeared, they were breaking the story too much so they went on a holiday… a very long holiday…
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Suddenly he froze, his instincts telling him someone was just outside the room. Slowly he heard the door creak.
Light spilled in from the landing outside and a silhouette shone into the room. "Harry?" He heard a tentative whisper call. "Are you alright?" Relief flooded through him, it was only James, he must have heard his shouts. Damn the war for making him so paranoid.
"Uh, yeah." He said back. He heard soft footfalls padding along the floor and the shadow following them until they reached his bed.
"You were having nightmares." He said matter-of-factly, in the dim light he could make out concern in his cousins eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. "About Ron?" He froze up, how did he know about Ron? Of course, he must have shouted out the name while he dreamt.
James moved to sit beside Harry on the bed, much like he had done throughout his time at the hospital. "Were you close?" He asked, tucking himself under the quilts with Harry.
Harry nodded, "he was my best mate. And now he's gone."
"Was he... Was he in the fire?" James asked further.
"In a way, I left him, and I couldn't get back to him." James was confused in the way Harry had phrased it but didn't question further as he saw Harry was rather nervous about the situation.
They sat silently for a while, the sound of Harry's breath slowed until James realised he had fallen asleep. He realised he couldn't get out of the bed without waking Harry, so he lay down beside him instead. Harry subconsciously moved closer to his side, curling up into the warmth of his cousin. "Good night Harry."
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It wasn't long until Harry got his Hogwarts letter, along with James's book list for the year. They were all sat down for breakfast when the school owls arrived, Dorea insisted on eating all meals together as a family because when the school year started they wouldn't get to do so for no less than three months.
Just as Harry was cracking into his boiled egg they heard a tapping on glass sound. Four heads turned to see a barn owl sat on the perch next to the window specifically for delivery owls. James' stance lit up. "Hogwarts letters!" He shouted and ran to the window, opening it for the owl to enter. Harry got up too and filled a bowl with water for the owl to have a drink.
The owl sent a grateful look at Harry before holding out its leg for James to remove the all-important letters. "Harry! Your letters come too!" He shouted almost scarring the poor bird to death. He handed Harry his letter.
Harry potter
3rd bedroom
Potter manor
Devon countryside
He smiled nostalgically at the letter for a second while he opened the letter. A grin spreading on his face. He read it quickly, it seemed the book list was almost the same as the one in the future, the only difference was the defence against the dark arts book which changed every year. This time he had to get a book called 'Dark and Darker: a guide to jinxes, hexes and curses' which made it sound as if they had a competent defence teacher for once. The curse on the position must not seem so bad to most now, if Dumbledore could find a competent DADA teacher easily.
The next day the family of four all crowded into the fire, heading towards Diagon Alley.
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Everyone in the living room was leaning in to hear the story, even those who had been there at the time. They all wanted to hear the story from Harry's point of view, even Orion and James wanted to hear about their father's time as a child.
"I think it's time we all had a bit of fresh air, should we go out for a bit? I'll continue the story at Diagon Alley?" Harry suggested.
"That's a good idea, Florian's daughter reopened it a few months after you left, we can all have an ice cream." Hermione said.
"Ice cream in the winter 'Mione?" Ron said confused.
"What a splendid idea." James said grinning, "Do they do the warm ice creams here? I dunno if that's a parallel thing or just in our Diagon Alley." He asked curiously.
"Yeah they do, in all the flavours." Ron said entering the conversation properly. He then changed the subject to something a little more serious. "You know, mum would want to know that you're here, and... and Ginny." Ron said paling slightly. "Bloody hell, how do you think she'll take it? I mean with Harry and all?" He asked.
"I don't know, she'll be confused... and upset and... to be honest I think Ginny's mature enough to understand and accept the circumstances." Hermione sighed with resignation. "But I suppose you're right, they do deserve to know."
"We'll think of a way to break the news later." Harry said smiling softly. "Right now we have ice creams to eat." He grinned. "We'll have to wear disguises, I may still be recognisable but young James and Harry here, would be easily noticed, we'd have the press surrounding us in record time." Harry seemed to have a parental aura of command over his family that was similar to the likes of Molly to his old friends, both of his kids immediately went to their fathers to have their appearance altered, while young Harry went to Lily. James acquired blonde, long hair and a tanned face while Orion only had to change his hair colour a but as he was less recognisable anyway. Older Harry himself changed his hair a bit before turning to Sirius to change his husband's face too. "Can't be too careful."
In less than five minutes, everyone was ready to leave, clothed and prepped in an assortment of warm winter cloaks and muggle jumpers. All together they apparated into the leaky cauldron, which was all decorated up for the Christmas month, a tree stood in one corner with a large excess of tinsel hanging of it. The large group trundled outside into the bitter cold winter wind when a familiar voice rang out.
"'Mione? Is that you?" they all turned around to see Neville and Luna, holding hands while walking down the Alley together with what looked like a lot of full bags.
"Hi Nev, Luna." She said cheerfully. "Out doing the Christmas shopping then?"
But before he could answer her Luna spoke up in her dreamy voice. "Hello Harry and family." She said happily. "I take it the disguises are to avoid the press?" She correctly assumed, nothing got past Luna.
Neville looked confusedly between the mismatched group of people before coming up with the correct conclusion. "Harry? Is that really you?" he looked wide eyed at him, as if he could hope to see past the odd appearances. Harry nodded slowly, before being surprised by Neville running in to hug him. He guessed everyone would be a bit huggy if your friend returned after eight years of being missing, a sarcastic part of his head whispered. (AN - it's Harry's version of Leo!)
"It's nice to see you too Nev, sorry I've not come to see you yet, I've only been back for a few days and 'Mione's not letting me go until she has the entire story." He said, guilt spread all over his face.
He let out a weak chuckle. "Yeah, typical 'Mione." He said with a smile. "But what's happened to you, you look, erm, different." He said tactfully. "Other than the blonde hair of course."
"Well at least you put it better than Ron did, to him I'm an old man!" He joked a bit, stalling to find the best way to put it. "I've been away for a while, erm, away as in a different universe, or reality or whatever. It's really hard to explain."
Neville looked at him confused for a second before sighing slightly. "Well, if it was anyone that it could happen to, it would be you, wouldn't it!" He said smiling. "I don't need to know all the details, wouldn't understand any of them anyway! So who are these people?" He asked cautiously, throwing them all a suspicious glance.
"Well, this is where it gets confusing, firstly you've got to understand that I'm my dad's brother in the other universe if that makes any sense, I'm James Potter's brother." Harry said, cringing at how badly he explained it. He carried on anyway. "This is James, and his wife, Lily, and this is there kid, um, Harry." He paused to allow this to sink in with his friend. After Neville nodded he continued. "And this is my husband, Sirius Black, and our kids, James and Orion."
"I need to sit down." Neville said, looking slightly green. Agreeing, Harry led them to one of the tables outside Florian's. "I- it's-." He stuttered for a bit before composing himself. "It's a lot to take in, is that why you're older, because you've been back in time in an alternate universe?" He concluded.
Harry nodded, glad that he understood.
"Well, that was the shitest I've ever heard you explain something." Sirius said jokingly, to break the mood that was slowly setting in.
"Sirius, not in front of the kids!" He said automatically, as he had said it almost every day of the said kids childhood. Needless to say Orion and James had quite the vocabulary when they first went to Hogwarts. James, Sirius and their children all started laughing as Harry blushed slightly. "Yes laugh, haha, god you're as bad as the rest of 'em, kids the lot of you." He said, sharing a smile with Lily, who had just cuffed her husband round the head. Even Neville had smiled slightly, after getting over his shock.
"I'll go in to get the ice cream then." Lily said.
"I'll come help." Hermione offered, hurrying to stand up and follow the woman into the shop. While they were gone, Neville just looked at Harry with a quizzical look while the others made small talk. Both Ron's got along, and were under a heated debate on whether the newest seeker had any real talent or not. Sirius and James seemed to be discussing something under their breaths, while Harry kept shooting them both suspicious glances. Orion, and young James and Harry had got out a pack of specially enhanced exploding snap cards which literally made the ground shake when they exploded.
Once Lily and Hermione were back Harry explained to Neville and Luna that he was telling everyone the story of what happened since he disappeared. He roughly outlined the parts he had been over before delving back into the story. "So we were all going to Diagon Alley by floo, and as usual, I fell flat on my face!"
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Harry got up quickly off the floor, face bright red and hoping no one had seen him. Dorea came through after and took one look at Harry. "Oh dear, you've crumpled your robes, let me get that for you." She said waving her wand, the dust and grime covering his front disappeared and the robes themselves straightened out.
"Hey James!" Harry heard a spookily familiar voice call out from nearby.
"Oh hello Sirius, Remus dear, are you out for your school things too?" Dorea called back. He didn't trust himself to look up and see their faces, faces which were so young and carefree, not the old and warn out faces of his godfather and teacher.
"Wait you're not James?" The voice said. He looked up, Sirius's grey eyes stared into his own. "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously. At that moment James and Charlus came through as well.
"Sorry, I just caught James attempting to bring his collection of dungbombs." Charlus said with an amused gleam in his eye.
"Wait what?" Sirius and Remus exclaimed identically, looking in-between the two near identical cousins.
James grinned at their confusion and came forward, wrapping his arms around Harry. "This handsome young man is my cousin, Harry Potter."
"Shove off James." He said playfully, shrugging off his arms. "And someone had to get all the good genes."
"What are genes?" He said confused.
"Muggle thing, it means I got all the good looks in the family." Harry replied, grinning while James scowled. They both looked back to James's friends who were still staring like fools.
"What?" James asked. "Got something in my teeth?" He said, deliberately winding them up.
"Why have you never told us you had a cousin?" Sirius blurted out.
"I didn't know myself until a while ago, remember how I kept disappearing at the end of last year, well I was visiting Harry was in hospital, he's gonna be living with us now!" James explained excitedly.
"Merlin, now we have to deal with two of them!" Sirius said.
Remus shot him a look and went forward to greet Harry. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Remus."
Harry grinned at him. "Nice to meet you too, James couldn't stop going on about his friends all summer, I don't think he could live without you guys!"
"Harry!" He playfully pushed his cousin while blushing profusely. The door opened and Harry turned to look who came in. A young boy, slightly pudgy, walked in with his mother trailing behind. Harry clenched his fists, he hadn't thought about Peter yet, but he knew he couldn't get rid of the rat now, it was too early and in reality, Peter was innocent in this time period. "Harry are you ok?" James asked, noting his stiffness.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine." He replied, just as James caught sight of his third friend.
"Hey look! It's Peter!"
Harrys breath caught in his throat.