'Sign Language'
''Writing'
~Parseltongue~
Dead. All of them, dead, and it's all my fault. How did things come to this? I thought I was saving them, but in the end, I could do nothing but watch them burn, and scream alongside them. I should have known better than to think I could do it.
Why did I even consider cheating on the damn test in the first place? I knew better than to think I would ever amount to anything other than fighting ghosts. Now they're all gone, and it's all my fault. I can't even blame him, because he was once me. He went through all of this once too. Everything he did was a result of what just happened.
Sitting on the bed in my large, empty room in Vlad's mansion, I realize there may be no way to save the world, other than to leave it. At least that way, the pain would go away forever, and the world would be safe. It wouldn't be hard either. I deserve it after all.
"Daniel?" Vlad asks from the doorway. "I know things are hard, I miss them too. I never thought I would ever say this, but I would give anything for one of Jack's bone crushing hugs right now. You can't lock yourself up in here for the rest of your life though."
At my continued lack of response, he sighs in defeat. Instead of yelling at me like I expect him to do, he sits down beside me, pulling me into a side hug.
"I remember Jack mentioning once that you were adopted. He said that you knew. I decided that maybe, since you clearly don't want to live with me, I could find your biological family." I turn towards him, the only form of response I've given him since the explosion. "I'm sorry Daniel, but your parents are dead. You do, however, have a twin brother." he adds when I look away.
"His name is Harrison James Potter, and yours is Daniel James Potter. Maddie and Jack never actually changed your name either. You were born July 31, 1991 to Lily and James Potter, shortly after Harry. A year and a half later, your parents were killed by an evil man, set on killing the two of you. I can organize to have you meet each other. I think it would be for the best."
'No.'"What? Why not?"
'I can't hurt him too.'
"Daniel, I think you should know that he attracts just as much trouble as you do. It can't possibly hurt to meet him. You could even go to the same school as him. I know you've had powers before the accident Daniel."
I tense, remembering the time when that was out of control. My parents suspected there was a ghost that liked to overshadow me, and I would have to go through traumatic cleansing treatments. At first, it wasn't bad, but as I got older, and stronger, the methods became more aggressive. The day I accidentally teleported home when Dash was bullying me in first grade, they decided that I must have been exposed to something, and cut my arms open in the bathroom to drain the tainted blood. This happened once a week for a year, until I was finally able to keep the power in check, if only to survive.
"The school that Harrison goes to, and that you should have gone to, is called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It also happens to be the school that I attended until I was eighteen. I intend to enroll you for next year in the same year as your brother. You have to learn to control, and use your magic. It's not an option, and Hogwarts is a very good school. I was actually only a year ahead of your parents, though I was in a different house, so I didn't know them well. I did help your mother and some of her friends from my house with their assignments occasionally."
'What if--'
"No what if's Daniel. You won't know until you try."
After a moment of consideration, I agree. he won't let it go anyway, and I can't deny my curiosity about my birth family. Besides if I go, and don't like it, I can always ask to be homeschooled, or maybe to go to a different school. I just hope I don't fuck this up like I always do.
Hey everybody! In case some of you didn't notice this story is being rewritten. It has been so long since I posted the story, and it almost feels like someone else wrote it as I look back on the original piece. As it has been so long since I first wrote it, and I have grown greatly as a writer, and a fan of these two fandoms, I decided to come back and redo it. I can't promise for it to be fantastic, but it won't be nearly as rushed or unrealistic as the original.
On that note, as I am not very far into editing, I don't know how much of this story is going to change, but I intend to keep it on the same basic idea of the original.
Thank you to those of you who are giving this story a second chance and, to those who are reading it for the first time, I hope you enjoy.