Potter Heir – Harry Potter.
Harry James Potter stared out the window of the Hogwarts Express silently, hiding his nervousness behind the mask he had constructed years ago as he watched the other families rushing across the platform, leading children, owls, and trunks towards the train to send them off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Harry, you'll be fine you know," came a soft voice from behind him.
Harry turned and shot his father a nervous smile, automatically lowering the aforementioned mask for his family. "I know," he admitted, "But I'm still allowed to be nervous".
"Of course you are," James agreed as he threw himself onto the seat beside Harry. "Anyone who tells you they're not nervous are lying Harry," he explained bluntly, "I was so nervous I was shaking. Your mother was rambling off every spell she knew and you know how hard it is to make her nervous. Sirius kept fidgeting with his hair and Remus kept playing with his wand".
"I get it. Everyone was nervous," Harry exhaled slowly as he moved over to curl up next to his father, relaxing instantly as his father's arm went over his shoulder. "I won't be in Gryffindor you know?" he blurted suddenly, already knowing his father wouldn't care but still wanting to hear the words.
"As long as you're not in Slytherin," James said without hesitation, "And if you are in Slytherin I'm going to hit you with a permanent hair dying spell and you'll be stuck with puke green hair for the rest of your life," he added.
"And I'll use Mum's balding spell on you," Harry countered instantly. "And then myself," he added after a moment's hesitation, "I couldn't stand having Slytherin hair," he joked.
"That's my boy," James praised, "But seriously Harry. No matter what I say, if you go into Slytherin then so be it. You're my son no matter your house, even if we all know you're going into Ravenclaw," he said gently.
"Mum has me well trained," Harry admitted with a happy smile.
"And what of me?" James pressed slowly.
"I've got the cloak and map in my trunk," Harry confirmed as his smile transformed into a smirk, "And multiple copies of the Marauder's list of the best pranking spells as well as the Marauder's journals".
"Excellent," James whispered under his breath, "Remember. First prank of the year?"
"Snivellus," Harry replied immediately, an air of innocence surrounding him as he smiled angelically.
"You'll do me proud," James agreed smugly, "Sirius and I managed to corrupt you good!"
"I think Moony and Mum did it better," Harry corrected, "There's a reason Uncle Remus came up with the best pranks after all. Brains are better than looks".
"And I thank Merlin every day that you got my looks and your mother's brains," James finished before sighing as the train's horn went off. "I've got to go, your mum will be waiting for me at the castle," he muttered as he hugged Harry to his side one more time before unfolding from the seat and smiling at him gently. "Make some new friends," he ordered softly, "If you see a Malfoy make a comment about his father having girl's hair. If you see a Longbottom tell them to hurry up and sit down so you can continue the tradition of the heirs being friends. And if you see a cute girl that makes your world complete then invite them into the compartment and for the love of Merlin don't act like an idiot," he continued.
"So basically don't pull a 'James Potter'?" Harry asked wryly making his father nod before pausing to mock-scowl at him.
"I want to argue with that comment but unfortunately I didn't react well when I met Lily," James pouted, "So yes. Don't pull a 'James Potter' and alienate your Mate," he agreed.
"I promise," Harry said slowly, smiling in a reassuring manner at his father, "Go. Before Mum has a panic attack and ends up hexing your horns again," he teased innocently. He chuckled as a horrified expression flashed across his father's face and James twisted on the spot, apparating straight off the train and to Hogwarts where his mother was teaching this year now that she didn't need to stay home to look after him.
Raising a hand to comb through his short spiked hair Harry relaxed back onto the seat, glancing up at the luggage rack to where he could see a black shape curled up in his cage, his familiar, Enfer, ignoring him for putting him in the cage even if the door was unlocked and the cage itself just for show. "You're going to ignore me until Hogwarts aren't you?" he asked knowingly, the opening of a single green eye before the cat stood and turned his back on Harry all the confirmation he needed, "Stubborn feline," he muttered making Enfer just flick his tail at him.
As the train's final warning sounded Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a book the size of a matchbox, a flick of his wrist extending his wand from his holster before he tapped it on the book wordlessly so the innate enchantment could activate and unshrink the book into his hand, Harry almost dropping it as the sudden increase in size and weight forced his hand down to his lap. Smiling down at the book Harry made himself comfortable as he sheathed his wand and cracked the book open to the bookmarked page, his eyes darting across the familiar words even as his lips mouthed the words silently.
He had a long trip to get to Hogwarts after all.
Harry's attention was pulled from his book as the compartment door was pulled open and a young red-headed boy looked in, blinking at Harry for only a moment before his eyes rose up to his forehead for a moment and he scowled.
"Hey, do you know where Harry Potter is?" the boy demanded rudely, "I'm his best mate and he promised to hold a compartment for us but I can't find him".
Harry withheld the urge to laugh outright at the snobbish-sounding boy's claim and instead shook his head, "Haven't seen him," he lied bluntly.
The red-head's eyes narrowed at him slowly, "And what's your name then?" he snapped.
"Hadrian," Harry admitted, using his formal name as he stared down the annoying boy. "What's yours?" he asked slowly, wanting to know the boy's name in case of future confrontations.
"Ron. Ron Weasley," the boy replied proudly.
"Don't trust the Weasleys Harry. The older two are good people, William and Charles. But the other's aren't to be trusted, Molly is Dumbledore's staunchest supporter and Arthur won't stand up to her meaning that she'll have the others trained to follow Dumbledore without hesitation".
As his father's words flashed through his mind Harry just inclined his head in the boy's direction, hoping the boy would leave to continue his search for his 'best mate' (And did thinking the term 'mate' about anyone make him feel nauseous or what?).
"Well I'm off, I've got to find Harry before he thinks I've abandoned him," Ron said dismissively before stepping out and slamming the door to the compartment shut and vanishing from sight.
Feeling eyes on him Harry glanced up to Enfer to see two green eyes watching him in amusement. "Don't say anything," he ordered with a scowl, "Mum and Dad warned me I might have to deal with people like him but I wasn't expecting them to be that… brazen…," he sneered before shuddering. "I'm going to hex that boy," he realised suddenly, "I'm going to hex him a LOT".
A lazy 'mew' from Enfer made him roll his eyes and return to his book, barely getting to read two sentences before someone knocked on the compartment door and it slid open to reveal a familiar face that lit up at the sight of him. "Heya Harry," Neville Longbottom greeted nervously, "Uh, you wouldn't happen to remember the Familiar Calling Charm would you?" he asked hopefully as Harry smiled back at the timid boy.
"Nota accersi Trevor," Harry instructed gently, long used to the boy's terrible memory by now, "And once you find it you better bring him and your trunk down here. Brothers should sit together Neville, and I don't think I could forgive you if you tried to pretend you didn't know me by sitting elsewhere," he teased making Neville splutter and blush.
"I'll be back soon," Neville mumbled as he pulled his wand out, and Harry instantly recalled the loud and explosive (Both figuratively and literally) argument Neville's grandmother and Harry's father had had about whether Neville should get his own wand or just use Frank's (His father's). Harry was rather pleased that his father had won that one, having a faulty wand would do nothing for his god-brother's rather fragile self-confidence.
"Neville!" a bushy haired girl exclaimed as she suddenly popped up beside the slightly chubby boy, "There you are! I asked the other side of the train and no one's seen him," she declared.
"It-it's okay Hermione," Neville stuttered, his shyness coming back with full force as he turned to face her, "Ha-Harry told me the spell to summon him again, Gran had him tagged so that spell would work so it shouldn't be hard to find him now".
Harry schooled his amused face clear just as 'Hermione' turned to stare at him intently, her eyes flicking up to his forehead within moments making him resist the urge to make a sarcastic comment at her automatic search for a scar. He knew everyone would be looking for the black-haired green-eyed boy with the lightning scar, he had also already seen that people would take a second look at him but since he apparently lacked the scar and his hair weren't pure black he was 'obviously' not Harry Potter.
"Doesn't Hogwarts have a rule about natural hair colours?" Hermione asked instead of commenting on his so-called 'fame' like he was expecting.
"Huh? Oh uh no, it doesn't," Harry explained as he caught himself quickly, "And this is natural," he added with a challenging eyebrow.
"Black hair with red tips is not a natural hair colour," Hermione corrected with a stubborn look on her face and her hands on her hips.
"It is when your mother is a red-head," Harry countered, "I was born with black hair and the red lightened out as I got older. And I know red hair is not a dominant gene but magic doesn't really care about that," he added figuring this girl was a muggleborn.
Hermione stared at him for a moment before pulling a face, "I'll get back to you once I've done more research," she decided before her eyes dropped down to the book in his hands, "Do you like to read?" she asked as her eyes widened and hope flashed through them.
"If you help Neville catch Trevor and then bring your trunk here with him then we can talk," Harry bartered, recognising both his mother's and his own desire for knowledge in her, "I have some books you might find interesting," he added.
"The Potter Libraries are some of the most extensive in the UK," Neville added absently as his wand was making the small spiral and thrust of the Familiar Calling Charm, "Just after the Black and Lovegood Libraries actually. The Longbottom's are sadly smaller than Hogwarts' one".
"But your family's library has hundreds of unique tomes on Herbology and Duelling," Harry interrupted to counteract Neville's negative attitude, "I still remember Mum bursting into tears when she was told she was allowed to take some of them home to read," he pointed out with a smile that Neville and even Hermione matched.
"I fainted when your Dad gave me one of the only copies of 'Rowena Ravenclaw's Study of Mythical Plants' in existence like it wasn't worth a fortune," Neville mumbled awkwardly.
"And I still have that picture of you fainting with the shocked look on your face," Harry pointed out. "Now hurry up and find Trevor so you can come sit down," he instructed, "I haven't seen you since our birthdays".
He got the feeling he could trust these two, and he already knew that Neville didn't care that he was Harry Potter, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that Hermione wouldn't care either. The only thing he would have to do is make sure that Hermione wasn't racist, he didn't want to lose someone who could be his best friend just because he wasn't Human now would he?
POTTER HEIR
Based on DZ2's 'Dark Shadows of the Potters' challenge. See! I told you I could write ideas that weren't Charmed crossovers, this is proof!
Remember to leave a review if you liked this idea and make sure to follow this story, as more ideas are sure to come!