Perfection Lost

Chapter Five

Present Day

"So, I guess we should figure out what to do with Non-James," Sirius said somberly. He was so disappointed. He'd been so happy to find James. Now, he just had another problem with which to deal. Not only had he not found James, but there was this imposter for them to handle.

"Non-James?" Remus asked with a raised brow.

"Well, what else should I call him? He's James, but not." Sirius shrugged as Remus just shook his head at him.

"Moony, I have an idea of how he got here." Harry said quietly with his head down. "I think this is my fault."

"How could this be your fault, Harry? I'm the one who thought I'd actually had some good luck for once." Sirius was surprised that Harry would think any of this was his fault. The poor kid hadn't had a clue about it until Sirius had plopped the Non-James down in front of Harry like a total tool.

"Well, I made a wish at midnight last night," Harry began to explain. "I always wait for midnight the night before my birthday. I don't know why, but it's just something I do."

"Okay, well making a birthday wish doesn't mean this is your fault." Sirius answered while running his hand through his hair. He was feeling a bit agitated.

Remus narrowed his eyes in thought as he tried to figure out exactly what Harry's wish could have been to have brought Non-James to their dimension. Remus had already decided that the man was a dimension, not time, traveler. For one, he was the right age their James would have been by now. For two, James had come to terms with the fact that Severus and Lily were inseparable. This Non-James obviously had some serious issues with Severus.

"I wished that I could see my parents at least one more time," Harry whispered while blinking frantically. He wasn't going to cry damn it!

"Oh, Love," Petunia sighed, "I know that with magic wishes can sometimes come true, but I really don't think there is any magic powerful enough to bring back the dead."

"I know," Harry nodded, "but see, he's from another dimension. For my wish to come true, Magick brought my dad from another dimension." That was when the tears began to fall. His wish had come true, but not the way he'd hoped.

"Harry, what is it?" Vernon asked. "I don't see how magic bringing Non-James here should be a bad thing. He may not be your dad, but he is at the same time."

"Don't you all understand?!" Harry shouted, throwing his arms in the air. "My dad is dead! If Magick had to bring him from another dimension, then that means he's really dead here!" Then, Harry ran outside to his treehouse.

"Oh my," Petunia whispered as she watched her nephew run out the back door. "Could he be right?"

"Absolutely not," Sirius was adamant with his response. "I think I would know if James was really dead. I would feel it here." He placed his hand over his heart. "James and I were bonded as blood brothers. I could always feel when he was hurt. I think I'd definitely know if he was dead."

"That's why you haven't given up looking for him." Vernon rubbed his hand over his face and looked towards the kitchen. "I think I'm going to go talk to Harry. Why don't you two," he pointed his finger at Sirius and Remus, "find some place to take this Non-James. I don't believe it will be good for Harry to see him again."

"Of course," Remus immediately agreed as he picked up his wand from where Harry had dropped it on the carpet before he ran outside. "Any idea where to take him, Siri?"

"Hmm, maybe we should take him to Grimauld. Then, I can floo Severus and see if he can help."

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Remus answered and pointed his wand at Non-James. "Mobilicorpus."

Harry didn't bother with opening the back door when he made his exit. His magic did it for him. As the door swung open, and he ran outside towards his treehouse, he heard the sound of wings flapping. Looking up at the bright blue sky he saw a white owl winging its way toward him. He held his arm up and smiled when the snowy owl gently gripped his forearm with her talons.

"Well hello, beautiful," Harry cooed as he petted the softest feathers he'd ever felt, and that was saying something because Harry had petted a lot of owls in his eleven years. "Have you got something for me?"

"Hoot, hoot, hoot." The owl responded. Oh, yes, she was going to like this human. He scratched in all the right places.

"What's your name pretty girl?" Harry asked. He'd always had an affinity with animals, but this owl seemed so very familiar to him for some reason. He'd never seen her before though.

"Hoot, woot," the owl answered while nipping gently at Harry's ear.

"Hedwig?" Harry cocked his head to the side in curiosity. He may have an affinity for animals, but he'd never been able to understand any of them other than snakes. But he was pretty sure this owl had just said her name was Hedwig. How cool!

"Hoot," Hedwig affirmed.

"Well, Hedwig, do you have something for me?" Harry asked as he looked pointedly at the letter still clutched in her talons.

"Hoot, hoo, hoot, woot, hoo."

"I have to open it when I'm alone?" This understanding Hedwig was probably the coolest thing since he'd learned he could speak to snakes. Harry wondered if there were other animals to which he could talk.

"Hoot."

"Okay, is it alright if I open it in my treehouse? I think you'll like it up there, or do you have to go?"

"Hoot, woot, hoooo."

"Oh, you're suppose to stay? Do I need to write a reply?"

"Hoot." Hedwig was so happy to finally have found a wizard who could understand her. She was tired of just being treated as some dumb animal. She wasn't a dumb animal. She was Hedwig! She was special! Her mum had told her that she would someday find her wizard, and that when she did that she should never let him go. So, that's what she was going to do. Never let her wizard go.

"Okay, so no reply." Harry ran his hand through Hedwig's feathers one more time before heading towards the treehouse. He couldn't climb the ladder while holding the owl, so he waved his left hand and slowly levitated them both up. He could have just asked Hedwig to fly up and taken the ladder himself, but if he was going to be weird, then he may as well take advantage of the weirdness.

Yes, Harry thought he was strange. He wasn't like all of the other kids in the neighborhood. He could do things which those kids could only ever dream. He could make himself float up several meters in the air, but it wasn't quite flying. Although, he was determined that he would be able to fly without any assistance some day. He could speak to snakes. How many people have you ever heard of who could speak to snakes who wasn't an evil bastard? He could create fire in the palm of his hand with just a thought. And, wasn't that a frightening concept for an eleven year old to be able to do such a thing? He could fix almost anything that had been broken with a wave of his hand. Honestly, he was kind of happy with that since he'd been such a clumsy child while his body grew into his magic. He knew he was far from done growing, but he was already as tall as most thirteen year olds and could probably even pass for a short fifteen year old. He could make something disappear with a twitch of his finger, and yes, that included animals and people. He'd found that out the hard way when a bully at school had teased him about being clumsy. He still didn't know what happened to the kid. He just assumed that his parents would have reported him missing if he hadn't already been found. So, yes, Harry James Potter was the weirdest of weird in his book.

Harry knew that he was magical, but he also knew that he was more magical than most kids his age. He was actually probably more magical than most adults. He didn't know that though. If he'd ever thought to ask Remus, Sirius, or even Severus he might have found out that his power level was just about equal to the great Albus too many names Dumbledore, and he was still growing.

Once Harry had made himself comfortable by laying against a giant, green bean bag his aunt had given him last Christmas, he untied the letter from Hedwig's leg and set her down on his knee. Looking at the name and address on the envelop made his eyebrows rise nearly to his hairline.

"What the bloody hell?" Harry murmured as he just stared at the envelop in stupefaction. There, written in beautiful calligraphy was not just his name and address, but several titles as well.

Harry James Potter

Prince of Asgard

Prince of Vanaheim

Lord of House LeFey

Heir of House Potter

Heir of House Gryffindor

Heir of House Slytherin

4 Private Drive

Treehouse

Little Whinging, Surrey, UK

Needless to say, Harry was in awe and he hadn't even opened the envelop yet. How could he have so many titles, and where the hell did they come from? Blinking several times and shaking his head, he decided that he should read the letter. Hopefully, it would have an explanation. So he took a deep breath and broke the plain black wax seal. The letter was written on smooth parchment that seemed to have a hint of a greenish tint. The ink was glowing silver.

Harry,

I hope this letter finds you quickly. There is much that you need to know before you begin your education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. By now, I'm sure you have noticed the very impressive list of titles that you carry with your name. These will all be explained in time, but first, let me tell you who I am. My name is Lily Jazmine Evans. I am your mother. I am so very sorry that I haven't been there for you. I can only give you my reasons for it and hope that you will someday forgive me.

I guess I should start where everything began. When I was in my sixth year of schooling at Hogwarts, I fell deeply in love with a man who is my everything. I'm sure everyone would tell you that this man was your father, but I'm sorry to tell you he is not. Do not think that I didn't love your father, James, because I did. It just wasn't the same kind of love I'd felt for my best friend nearly all my life. You see, I'm telling you this because that man will be your teacher when you start at Hogwarts. His name is Severus Snape, and he's the potions professor.

Severus and I grew up together. Our houses were only a few blocks from each other. We used to meet at the park, and I would mend his wounds from his abusive father. His mother was in a mental institution in the muggle world because Tobias, Sev's father, had her put there. Tobias hated magic. He hated anything to do with it. You see, Tobias was a squib. So, he took his hate, jealousy, and anger of not having magic of his own out on his wife and son. My parents tried several times to get Sev to come live with us, but Tobias would rant and rave and threaten to tell the muggles about magic. So we simply did the best we could together.

When Sev and I started Hogwarts, we both thought it would be a perfect getaway for him. But, alas, it wasn't meant to be. You see, Severus was rather small and skinny for his age. His nose was rather large, but that's just because he was young. He eventually grew into his features. His clothing was second hand and it showed. My parents had offered to buy his school robes and supplies, but Sev wasn't having any of it. He said he was grateful for the offer, but if he couldn't take care of his own needs, then he could do without. My parents had no choice but to agree, but they did buy him new clothing at Christmas time and on his birthday.

When we got on the train to Hogwarts, we were both so excited to meet other magical children like ourselves. Neither of us realized the amount of prejudice in the wizarding world against those of mixed blood. See, my parents were muggles. You should know this already unless Petunia has decided to keep your heritage from you. Although, I don't see her doing that. I was a muggleborn witch with a best friend who everyone thought was a halfblood. Sev's mum was a witch from a pureblood family, but everyone thought Tobias was a muggle. Only Sev and I ever knew he was a squib, and we didn't find that out until Sev turned seventeen and went to Gringott's to claim his inheritance. Anyway, I'm rambling on.

So, I am a muggleborn. Sev was thought to be a halfblood. Now, imagine, the two of us in our muggle clothing, eyes bright in excitement, chattering happily together on the platform for the Hogwarts Express. Neither of us had ever seen it before, so we were giddy with delight at the old steam train. So there we were, happily examining everything around us when suddenly I was pushed to the ground. "Get out of the way, mudblood" was what the boy with red hair sneered at me. Severus turned and had his wand in his hand before the other boy could blink. He told the redhead to leave me alone or he would turn him into a frog. The older boy just laughed and pulled his own wand. That was when Sev muttered a curse under his breath that to this day I still have no idea what it did. The redhead yelped in pain and rushed to get on the train. To me, it looked like he had suddenly had a stick jammed up his spine through somewhere a stick should never go. Sev smirked and helped me up. We finally got on the train only to run into another problem.

The compartments were almost all full. The only one that wasn't packed to the brim was all the way at the back of the train. See, by now, we were both huffing and puffing. Our trunks were awfully heavy for eleven year olds. Both of us had probably packed more books than clothes. I still don't know why we didn't ask someone for help, but there were other things on our minds. We finally reached the last compartment to find it about half full with four boys in it. I knocked on the door and poked my head in to ask if we could sit with them. I was blown away by the answer I received.

"You can, but we don't like dark wizards, so the nasty git has to go" was what a boy with dark hair and glasses said to me. I just stared at him. What did he mean dark wizard? Sev wasn't a dark wizard, and I didn't know why the boy would think that. "He's not a dark wizard, and he's not nasty!" I shouted at the bespectacled boy. "He is so. If he weren't a dark wizard, he wouldn't have used that curse on Fabian" is what one of the other boys said. That boy was pale with black hair and grey eyes. "Who's Fabian?" I asked them. The other two boys hadn't said anything so far, but my question got an answer from the smaller mousy looking one. "Fabian Prewitt. He's the heir to House Prewitt. Well, him and his twin brother. They're fifth years." Honestly, I didn't care who it was that Sev had cursed. That boy, Fabian, had knocked me down and called me a name that I assumed was meant to be derogatory. I told the four boys in the compartment as much, but the one with the glasses laughed. He laughed at me, and I saw red.

I pulled my wand and was just about to shout out a curse that Sev and I had learned from one of his mother's old books that Sev had found in his attic, but the boy who hadn't said anything yet jumped to his feet and stood in front of his friends. His brownish eyes suddenly glowed with an amber light and he growled at me. He actually growled. Like an animal. Sev's eyes got big and he grabbed my hand and pulled me from the compartment. So, we spent our first train ride to Hogwarts sitting on the floor of the aisle with our trunks next to us. That was also the day that I learned that not only was Sev my best friend, but he was my protector. It's also the day we first met the marauders. The boys in the compartment were James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus. We didn't get off to a very good start, but things would change over the years.

As we grew up and learned that Sev and I were on our own, we became closer and closer. In our sixth year, I realized that my feelings toward Sev had changed. I no longer thought of him as my brother. I felt for him as I would a lover. As it turned out, when I finally got the courage to admit my feelings to Sev, he said he felt the same. We started officially dating. No one really paid much attention to it because we had always been inseparable. But there was one person who, no matter what I did to discourage him, was constantly asking me out.

That person is your father, James. He just wouldn't leave me alone. Over the years, the Marauders had stopped teasing me for being friends with Sev, but they hadn't left Sev alone. No, it would take an event that nearly ruined all of us for that to finally happen. You see, Peter was the only one who didn't join in on the fights with us all through our years at Hogwarts. Remus would never start anything, but he was always right there to help James and Sirius. Most of the time Sev and I were outnumbered, but we gave as good as we got.

Anyway, I keep getting off track. Back to James. James Potter was a bully to put it simply. He was a pureblood, good looking, smart, and cocky. Sev used to say that if James' head got any bigger he'd float away. I had to agree. For all that James was swooned over by the other girls, I never so much as looked his way. Until the beginning of seventh year. James and Sirius, for some reason they still won't tell me, had come running from the Forbidden Forest towards the Black lake, where Sev and I were sitting studying, looking as if the hounds of hell were on their trail. Who knows? They very well could have been. With magic, anything is possible. Never, ever forgot that, my son.

All I know is that Sirius was screaming at James to run faster while barely being able to stay on his own two feet. His hair was a mangled mess, blood was running from a gash in the side of his face, and he was missing a shoe. James didn't look much better. James' robes were ripped, his nose was bleeding, and he was also missing a shoe. "Run!" Sirius screamed at me and Sev as he sprinted past us, James on his heels. I looked to Sev in question, and he was staring over my shoulder at the forest with every bit of color drained from his face. There, at the tree line, stood something that would haunt my dreams for years to come. I still have no idea what that thing was, but Sev grabbed my hand and began running for the castle. I was dragged behind him like a ragdoll. Our bags and cloaks were left sprawled out on the ground by the lake as we ran as fast as we could for the school. We would later find our things torn to shreds and scattered all over the bank of the lake.

Sirius reached the doors to the entry hall first. He had shoved them open just far enough that we could fit through the crack. He didn't stop once he'd entered. He continued to sprint through the corridors to the headmaster's office. James stopped just inside and was yelling at me and Sev to run faster. "Hurry, faster! It's gaining on you!" he screamed at us. I was terrified. Whatever that tall, dark thing in the forest had been, it was still chasing us. Sev dragged me into the school, and James slammed the door closed behind us. "What the bloody fuck was that thing, Potter?!" Sev shouted at James, but James was bent double trying to catch his breath. It was then that Headmaster Dumbledore came into the hall. He asked if we were all okay and sent us up to the Infirmary to see Madame Pomfrey. As Sev led me away, I heard Dumbledore ask James why Severus and I was with them in the forest. Later I found out that James had told Dumbledore that it was all his and Sirius' fault that the thing we'd seen had come after us all. Dumbledore didn't do anything about it. Sirius told me later that night that he and James were doing something for the headmaster in the forest, but it had gone all wrong. He never would tell me what it was they were doing. Peter later told me, the next day in charms class, that Sirius and James had probably saved mine and Sev's lives. Needless to say, that changed everything.

Severus thanked James in the middle of the Great Hall at dinner time, formally. Now, you might not think this is a big deal, but it's a much bigger deal than you would imagine. Magick made sure of it. When James accepted Sev's gratitude and then apologized for dragging us into the middle of whatever was going on, Magick took over. A bond was formed. A very strange bond. At first we believed it was a life debt, but found out from Professor McGonnagal that a life debt tends to glow orange. This magic wasn't orange. It was a pure, blinding white. Professor Flitwick said he believed it to be a bond of brotherhood, or companionship. Well, that was the closest thing we could find to what Sev and James had experienced anyway. So, there we were at the beginning of our seventh year, and my boyfriend and the boy who wanted to be my boyfriend had somehow become bonded by friendship. Sirius laughed for days at James' plight. Because, you see, just because Magick determined James and Sev should be friends, didn't mean that James and Sev wanted to be friends.

Remus and Peter were quite happy with the way things had turned out. Neither of them had ever really disliked Severus the way James and Sirius had done. They were rather glad that the tension and spiteful pranks would stop. Peter was always so quiet that none of us really knew that he had wanted to be friends with Sev and I since that train ride back in first year. As for Remus, well, anything that kept the peace was okay with him.

By the end of first term, just before Christmas holidays, the four Marauders had become six. Severus and Sirius had become almost as close as James and Sirius had been growing up. They shared a dark past of abuse and neglect. It makes me wonder sometimes how things would have turned out if James and Siri hadn't seen Sev curse Fabian Prewitt in first year. I believe we all would have been quite happy as friends. Remus and Peter had taken to hanging out more together. Remus had always been the mothering type, and Peter definitely needed mothering. The poor boy was a lost cause when it came to taking care of himself.

So that left me and James. At first, things weren't much different than before between us. James would ask me out, I would say no. By this point in time, me and Sev had been dating for almost a year. James just wouldn't give up though. It was very tiring trying to keep my distance from him. Severus and I had been spending less and less time together because seventh year is the hardest of them all. We had NEWTS coming up, tons of homework, and Sev and Siri were always in the potions classroom doing only the gods know what. By the end of seventh year, Sev and I had drifted so far apart that we no longer even held hands anymore, let alone acted like boyfriend/girlfriend. It wasn't that we had stopped loving each other, though. I don't think anything could have made that happen. It was just that I realized that there was much more to James Potter than I had ever known.

I did what I thought was best when I noticed that I looked at James a little too often and a little too long. I paid more attention to the stories he would tell than I ever had before. I noticed his eyes weren't really hazel, but fluctuated between a deep gray and sky blue. But Sev was my boyfriend. I shouldn't have been noticing things about James. I spoke to Sev about it, and he agreed that we had drifted apart. He made sure to let me know that he still loved me, and always would, but said that if I felt anything at all for James that I owed it to all of us to see what may come of it. "You never know, you might still think he's a toerag in the end" Sev had said with a chuckle. So that's how me and your father ended up together.

Harry stopped reading for a moment and rubbed at his eyes. His mother's writing was beautiful, but the swirly way she formed some of her letters was giving him a headache. He looked over to the railing where Hedwig had flown when he'd shifted his legs at some point and noticed she was watching something on the ground.

"What is it girl?" Harry asked as he set the letter to the side and stood up to look over the railing.

"Harry? Are you up there?" Vernon called out from the bottom of the ladder. He was standing there staring up at the snowy owl perched on the rail. She was the most beautiful owl he'd ever seen, but he was curious about from where she'd come.

"Yeah, Uncle, I'm up here!" Harry called back down.

"May I come up?" Vernon asked as he placed one foot on the ladder.

Harry glanced back at the letter sitting on the floor. He wasn't sure he wanted anyone to know about it yet. At least not until he'd had a chance to read the whole thing.

"Um, I'll come down," Harry said as he grabbed the letter and stuffed it under his bean bag chair. It should be safe there until he came back up to get it.

"Okay, well, I just wanted to let you know that Sirius and Remus have taken Non-James to Grimauld until they can figure out what to do with him."

"Oh, okay," Harry muttered as he floated down. "Did they make sure to stun him again? So he doesn't escape?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure they'll be able to handle him. Who's your new friend?" Vernon replied as Harry landed on the ground.

Harry smiled and looked up at the snowy owl still perched on the railing. "That's Hedwig. She just showed up."

"Hedwig, huh? Did you name her that? Or does she belong to Neville?" Vernon could swear he'd seen that owl around the yard before, but he couldn't be sure. With Harry being magical there were an abundance of owls that flew in and out of their yard, not all of them delivering post either. They just seemed to be drawn to wherever his nephew seemed to be at the time. He couldn't count how many times he'd come upon Harry sitting and petting some random owl, or speaking to the snakes that liked Petunia's garden.

"Oh, she's not Neville's bird." Harry explained a bit sheepishly. "She just showed up and told me her name is Hedwig."

"She told you?" Vernon's left eyebrow had nearly reached his hair at that statement. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if the owl had somehow communicated with Harry. The boy was just that magical.

"Um, yeah?" Harry rubbed a hand across his neck, ruffling up his hair a bit just like his dad used to do. Vernon smiled at the action.

"Okay, well, why don't you bring her inside, and we'll see if we can find a treat or two?" Vernon offered as he turned to head back into the house.

"Oh, sure!" Harry exclaimed happily. "C'mon girl, let's go find you some bacon or something!"

Vernon shook his head as the owl flew down and landed on Harry's shoulder and nipped the boys ear softly. Then man, boy, and owl went into the house to find treats. Vernon was pretty sure that Harry had forgotten it was his birthday after all the commotion earlier. He knew that would change as soon as Harry saw the cake and presents Petunia had laid out while the boy had been outside. Right in the middle of the pile of presents, and surrounding the cake, was the game console his nephew had practically begged them to buy for him. The smile that lit up Harry's face made everything, whether it be magical catastrophes or muggle annoyances, worth having taken the boy into his home ten years ago.

As happy as Harry was with the presents and cake, his mind was still on the unfinished letter from his mum. He still hadn't found out who sent it for her, or why they'd waited so long after her death to do it. He made a resolution to finish reading it after dinner. Right now, he was going to enjoy his eleventh birthday with his aunt and uncle.