Chapter 1 – A Dual of Brothers
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. My birthday wish still hasn't come true.
Due to all the attention my story has gotten I'm posting this chapter early. This is for you dear readers!
The black messy haired young adult crept up on the boy who was hiding behind a sofa. He hesitated as the boy shifted and looked about the room carefully. Canceling the disillusionment spell on him he stealthily made his way closer.
"Got you!" he shouted, causing the 4 year old boy to yell in excitement and try to run away. James Potter grabbed his oldest son and wrestled him to the ground. As laughter filled the small cheery home in Godric's Hollow a stern looking red haired woman marched into the living room.
"James Potter! You will wake up the twins if you keep it up!."
James grinned impishly and released Harry from the headlock he had him in. "Awww Lilly we have to have some fun. We've been in this house for the past two weeks!"
Lilly folded her arms and marched towards them. Winking at his son as Lilly came closer muttering about younger children's need of sleep under her breath, he tripped her causing her to fall on top of him.
"You might want to watch your step dear." He said as he kissed her forehead.
"Dad! You don't have to do that in front of me!" the boy on the carpet whined as he covered his eyes.
"James Pott-"
James silenced her with a kiss amid the background of a gagging 4 year old.
Still grinning he gestured to Harry, "Come on Prongslet. It's time for you to get to bed."
Sighing, the young boy stood up and wiped his sweaty hands on his shorts. Making his way to the room he shared with his siblings he slowly crawled into bed.
"Brushed your teeth?" His father whispered as he followed him into the room.
"Daaaaad."
"Your mother will get onto us both if you didn't."
Smiling as he closed his eyes, Harry nodded in his father's direction. He smiled as closed his eyes, eagerly awaiting tomorrow's activities. He quickly fell asleep to the soft sound of his younger twin siblings's steady breathing.
It was the soft voices of his parents that woke him up. Tip toeing quietly he eased out of his room, careful not to disturb his younger siblings. Sneaking out into the long hallway he carefully made his way down the carpeted stairs towards the kitchen. He hid in the doorway as his parents mentioned his name.
"-and Harry?" His father asked,
"Yes. I've placed the ward on Rose, Adrian, and Harry. They should be safe."
"I'm worried Lilly." Harry sneaked a look and saw that his parents were sitting at the kitchen table illuminated by a small lamp beside them.
"I think we should have kept Padfoot as the secret keeper and just had him stay here with us."
Lilly snorted, "The house would have been in shambles by the end of the first week."
"Not entirely." With a grin James added, "Maybe half of it."
They both started as Harry accidently shifted, making a loud creak emanate from the floor.
"Adrian?" Lilly inquired towards Harry.
"It's me Mum." Harry said, stepping out from the shadows. "Your voices woke me up."
His Mom gestured for him to come over. He climbed into her lap as she slowly rocked him. His father ruffled his hair.
"Excited to get your first broom tomorrow? Or did you have too much candy?"
Already feeling sleepy once again, Harry just nodded slowly.
James chuckled and looked outside the window. The moon shined brightly into the house illuminating the window sill in bright harsh light. Sighing softly, James twiddled his fingers.
"What's wrong?" Lilly asked.
"Nothing."
"James. What's on your mind?"
Blowing out his breath James's voice took on a nervous tone. "Lilly I have to tell you something important. It's about my brother."
A loud keening wail suddenly interrupted the peace of the night. With a start, a pale face James stood up.
"The wards! You don't think? Take him upstairs Lilly! I'll hold him off!" He yelled dashing for the entry way. He drew his wand as the front door was blasted off its hinges. A handsome man clad entirely in black stood in the now gaping hole.
"Mr. Potter. Stand aside and let me pass."
"Never Voldemort." James said shaking his head. Steeling his Griffindor courage he threw a deadly jet of green light from his wand. Eyes widening, the dark figure flicked his wand and a picture from the wall moved to intercept the curse.
"You're full of surprises. Very well then, if that is your answer." With another flick of Voldemort's wand a blast stormed through the building and James Potter flew into the kitchen table. Striding into the destroyed kitchen Voldemort narrowed his eyes and, as if he had made up his mind, a green light illuminated the room.
Voldemort made his way up the stairs but stopped at the jumble of weak wards and furniture blocking him from the top.
"Let me through girl." He commanded loudly.
"Never on my life Voldemort." came back the scathing reply.
Voldemort shook his head and flicked his wand. Once the wards on the stairs went down he cast a banishing charm at the furniture that impeded his view of the hall way. He heard a loud scream as the furniture flew back and down the hall way. Walking up the final steps he turned his gaze to stare at the unmoving body lying further down along the hallway. Ignoring it, he peered into the first dark room on the right. As he entered he heard a loud muffled cry from another room. Whipping his head around he noticed a closed door a little further down the hallway that the sound seemed to have come from. Walking over he opened the door to find a young Harry standing in a corner holding his younger brother's hand. Their sister stood hiding behind Harry.
"Get away from us!" Harry shouted. He held up a practice wand which Voldemort caused to fly away with a laugh.
"Mum!" the little girl shouted, "I want mummy."
Voldemort scowled, the whining annoyed him. Summoning his power he cast the spell he was so familiar with. Time seemed to slow down as the green spell traveled towards the three siblings. Harry, instinctively raising his hand which also held his brother's, tried to block the curse.
With a flare of light, the curse hit the duo's hands. The light exploded outwards blowing the two boys and Voldemort against the wall. Voldemort's body slowly dissolved leaving a small squirming mass of darkness. It emitted a shrill shriek and flew towards the only moving person in the room. A lightning-shaped scar slowly formed onto young Rose Potter's forehead as the house descended into silence.
The circle of red light expanded in the night and a man in a business suit quickly walked out of it. Stepping down onto the street he glanced down at the small house a block away. Upon noticing the gaping hole where the front door had been, he broke out into a run. His long strides took him into the house and straight to the body lying in the kitchen.
"James? No!" he sobbed. He fell to his knees and checked the eldest Potter for a pulse. His head hung down as his fingers failed to find one.
"If I had only come earlier brother. I'm sorry."
As he slowly stood up the man paused to gently close James's lifeless brown eyes. Suddenly the man gasped, "Lilly! The kids!"
He took off up the ruined stairs and cried out in horror as he saw Lilly Potter lying at the end of the hallway. Rushing to the body with tears now streaming his already damp face he noticed the blood that was pooling from her side.
He ran into the children's room and glanced around it in a state of panic. Quickly he noticed the two unmoving twins in the corner of the room. Kicking the wall with a wail of despair the man hesitated as he heard a slight groan. Stumbling, he made his way around the bed and found Harry Potter lying restlessly on the floor. The man gave a short cry of joyfulness and cradled the unconscious boy.
The man was in the middle of casting diagnostic charms on Harry when a necklace around his neck shone in a bright blue light. Glancing up quickly at the sound of faint pops on the street the manpaused in his actions.
"W-who are you?" Harry's weak voice asked.
Pursing his lips the man stood up. He drew a small stone out of his pocket and threw it in front of him. It exploded silently and a red edged oval of swirling colors appeared.
"My name is Adam Ravencroft. I'm your Uncle, Harry. Don't be afraid. I made a promise to your father that I intend to keep." He replied stepping into the glowing oval. As he disappeared the circle faded away quickly.
The four men appeared as the sky started to turn red from the sunrise. The oldest, a man in a long white beard, exuded a commanding aura. "We must move quickly. Sirius, Remus, Snape, hurry."
The three named men ran into the house only for two of them to give shouts of horror when they saw the still body of James. Ignoring them the third man, Snape, ran up the stairs and fell to his knees when he saw the body of Lilly Potter.
"N-Not Lilly!" he gasped, his voice hoarse.
Paling, Sirius and Remus looked at each other and bolted up the stairs to the children's room. Crying as they passed Lilly and Snape, they ran into the children's bedroom. Sirius picked up the unconscious body of Adrian Potter and bowed his head. Suddenly his breath hitched as he noticed Adrian's chest rise and fall almost imperceptibly.
"Adrian is alive!" he shouted as he scanned the young boy for injuries.
"Little Rosey is breathing as well! Lupin added. "But it's very faint!
Snape's voice interrupted their joyful cries. "Lilly is alive. Her heart slowed and was almost to a stopping point but I was able to get it jumpstarted. We need to get them to St. Mungo's Dumbeldore!"
Dumbledore, who had made it to the top of the stairs nodded quickly. "Fawkes come!"
A golden fire appeared almost instantly and dissipated, leaving a beautiful red bird its place. "Bring everyone here. Fawke's will take us to St. Mungo's." Dumbeldore commanded.
The small group of Wizards hurriedly gathered together and, in a rush of bright red fire disappeared, only leaving soot in their wake. The crumbling stairs, having been walked on too many times in the past hour, crumbled and fell in the ruined house.
I hoped you enjoyed! The next chapter will add some critical information and then we'll finally get on with the "present-day" story! Starting with chapter 3, each following chapter will be around a comfortable 5k words. My update plan is one chapter at least every three weeks. Hopefully, depending on my schedule, I'll be able to update faster; but that's my goal.
~ ╬0verwatch╬