Chapter eighteen

As planned, Harry waited for a half an hour after Dumbledore went into The Leaky Cauldron. He acted the part by taking photos of the shops and the people who were in Diagon alley. When he stepped into The Leaky Cauldron he didn't go straight over to Dumbledore, he spoke with Tom about taking some pictures, the owner nodded, so Harry took pictures of the old pub first, including Tom, then asked random people if he could take their picture, all said yes and Harry believed they only agreed because he was Albus Dumbledore's grandson. After taking a dozen pictures of different people he turned to see Dumbledore with James, Lily, Harry and Sirius. Harry figured it was time, then he had to keep reminding himself that his name was Brian, not Harry, he was never going to be Harry again.

'Granddad,' Harry smiled down at Dumbledore.

'Ah Brian my boy, I see you've been out taking pictures again.'

'Yes, I thoroughly enjoy the different faces that I shoot. I'm sorry to disturb all of you.'

'It's fine, this is a casual meeting, why don't you join us, give your eyes a break.'

'Thanks,' Brian sat smiling at James, Lily, Harry and Sirius.

'My son seems to like you Brian, he doesn't normally smile at people he doesn't know,' Lily said.

'He's cute, but I've never had anything to do with children so young.'

'Everyone learns what they need, with some it's instinct,' Lily smiled then saw her son reaching out towards Brian, 'It seems he wants you, he never does that either. Would you like to hold him?'

'Um, yes, I would, thanks,' Brian took Harry into his arms then thought about the situation, he was holding himself as a baby, 'I wonder if you are going to be like your mother or father when you grow up. Right now you have your father's hair and your mother's eyes, but I think he looks like he's father.'

'He does resemble me, I just hope he has Lily's eyesight and not mine.'

'I have terrible eyesight, I wear contact lenses.'

'What are contact lenses?' Sirius asked.

'Oh sorry, in the muggle world they have them. There small plastic discs the size of your eye and they work like glasses,' Brian handed Harry back to his mother then removed one of his lenses, 'You see, you can even get different coloured ones if you ever want to change your eye colour,' Brian put his lense back in, blinked a couple of times before he smiled.

'Being a wizard how did you find out about a muggle item?' James asked.

'I had a lot of muggleborn friends when I lived overseas, I used to visit their homes when I could, saw television and telephones, all types of muggle gadgets. That's what my camera is a muggle digital camera. Do you think I could take a picture of you three, I'll send you a copy when I develop it?'

'I don't see why not, so snap away Brian,' James said.

Brian picked up his camera and took three pictures, when young Harry reached for him again. Brian looked at Dumbledore who gave a nod, they realised this was the perfect way for Brian to have a picture taken with the Potters and Sirius.

Brian took Harry into his arms again, 'He is so cute, I suppose all babies are cute though.'

'Especially to their parents, but he does seem to like you, normally Harry is very shy with strangers. He must sense your good soul Brian,' Lily smiled.

'Thanks, that's a nice thing to say.'

'Let me take a picture of you with young Harry Brian, you do look good holding a child, maybe I will have a great grandchild one day.'

'You might be lucky granddad, if I can talk Severus into that, but not for a few years.'

'I am getting older Brian, you can't leave it too long,' Albus' eyes twinkled then he picked up the camera and took one picture of Brian holding young Harry, then with a slight move to his left, Brian was standing behind James, Lily and Sirius, so Albus snapped a couple of shots, 'Wonderful.'

'I should let you get back to your meeting and I'll keep taking my pictures,' Brian kissed Harry on the forehead where his own scar was but he knew this Harry was not going to receive that scar, 'Back to your mum,' Brian handed Harry to Lily then took his camera back, 'Thanks for letting me take your pictures and I'll send you a copy in about a week.'

'That would be nice, thank you Brian,' Lily smiled.

'See you at Hogwarts granddad,' Brian hugged Dumbledore then left the pub, he headed straight back to Hogwarts to develop his pictures. He sat there staring down at himself standing with his parents and his godfather.

'Brian, is everything okay?'

'Yeah, but look Sev.'

Severus glanced down at the pictures, 'You wish it had been real don't you?'

'Yeah, but I used to dream about being with my parents growing up. Anyway, I got the pictures and Lily said the nicest thing, I felt like crying but had to pull myself together so they didn't ask questions.'

'Lily is a very nice person, so what did she say?'

'Harry wanted me and she said he's normally shy with strangers, so when I took him into my arms she said that he must have sensed I have a good soul.'

'You do have a good soul Brian, what happened to you was not your fault and it did not affect you at all, you turned out to be a very caring man.'

'Thanks Sev, I used to worry about that, but I do seem to be okay.'

'You are, more than okay, but these other pictures are fabulous, you really have an eye for photography.'

'Thanks, I enjoy it, but it is just a hobby, I'm really looking forward to starting my apprenticeship in charms.'

'So you were good with charms?'

'When I could concentrate, yeah, I really enjoyed my charms classes. Potions was the only class I never enjoyed.'

'Because of the other me, hearing what you've been saying about him I can understand why you didn't like him.'

'I know he helped and he protected me without me knowing, but he was a bastard towards me. Whenever he saw me he would put me down, he often belittled me in front of others or said something nasty about my father and Sirius. The very first class I had with him he started calling me a celebrity, but he made it sound nasty. He was a very cold, hard and uncaring man. I suppose being a real death eater changed him from how you are now to what he became. He was friends with my mother so what I see in you was there in him when he was young, he just lost that along the way. But there is one thing that makes me hate him, something I could never forgive him for even after all the help he did give me.'

'Tell me.'

'When he was a young death eater he overheard Trelawney telling Dumbledore the prophecy. You see, Trelawney was staying at the Hogshead, Dumbledore was interviewing her for the job as divination teacher, he never intended to hire her. She went into a trance and recited the prophecy, that's the only reason Dumbledore did hire her. Anyway, Snape was outside the door listening, he heard the first part before Aberforth saw him and kicked him out of his pub then told his brother. Snape went to Voldemort told him. "The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches, born to those that have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies," Harry looked up, 'That's all he heard, so Voldemort knew a boy born at the end of July would kill him. Dumbledore believed that if he heard it all he might have waited. "And the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies."

Severus pulled Harry to his feet, dragged him into the bedroom where they two young men held each other while they lay together, their eyes on each other. But Severus got to see the deep sadness in Harry's eyes, but also got to see a bit of his suffering. So Severus held the man he loved, the man he hoped to spend the rest of his life with.