My uptake to the idea I shared on my profile. I´m not sure how far will I get with it, which is why I shared the idea, to see who else would be interested in the concept.
It is up to you, though I would like to know your thoughts on the matter.
As for why did I came up with this idea? Well - because nobody else tried it and it struck a chord with me. Although I don´t know how far will I get with this story.
Please read and review!
Final declaration - I REGRET NOTHING!
A small blonde boy darted through the street, doing his best to keep his distance from his pursuers until he found the perfect spot to disappear. An opportunity presented itself in the form of a dark alley that emerged inside his periphery. He ducked inside and halfway in, he raised his hand. Thin white strings emerged from the ends of his fingers, stretched and then connected to the roof´s edge. Still running, the boy pulled at the strings and launched himself up, until he landed on the rooftop. Here he crouched down and waited, trying to catch his breath and firmly clutching a big brown bag to his chest.
"Where is the brat?!" roared a voice bellow him and the boy froze.
"He ran into that alley boss!" shouted another voice.
"Then hurry! Or we can say goodbye to the money for his head!" growled the first voice and the boy heard quick steps and stomps as his pursuers ran into the alley.
The boy waited until he couldn't hear the pursuers anymore before he got up and started his trek to his temporary home. He ran on the roofs, not falling only thanks to the clever use of his strings and some serious balancing effort. That spoke of how often the boy did this roof-trek, using this escape route to avoid the wrath of different people. He kept hurrying towards his goal until he stopped on top of an abandoned building. Or at least, what most of the town´s occupants thought.
The boy entered the building through one of the broken windows and gave two sharp whistles.
From behind several old pieces of furniture covered by a white cloth, another blonde boy emerged. This one was a few years younger than the first and possessed much paler skin. The moment he spotter the older boy, he ran over to him.
"Doffy!"
"Woah! Easy, little brother," the older boy said as the younger one threw himself at him, which resulted in both of them ending on the floor.
"D-Doffy, I w-was so w-worried!" sobbed the little 7-years-old into his brother´s chest. "You w-weren´t coming f-for so long a-and I thought… I thought…"
"There, there," the older brother, Doffy, or Doflamingo, tried his best to comfort his brother. "It is fine, I´m here. I´m sorry for worrying you, Rosi. I ran into some small trouble on my way home, so I had to take my old escape route."
"W-what t-trouble?" Rosinante, or Rosi, asked quietly as he pulled away slightly to look at him.
"Some thugs, though not very smart ones," admitted the older blonde. Seeing his brother was about to start crying again, he quickly added: "But I´m alright, I managed to lose those bastards before they could get too close to me."
"I-if you s-say s-so," murmured the smaller blonde.
Doflamingo just smiled softly and patted his brother on his head. "Now get off me, Rosi or the food I brought will be ruined."
The moment he mentioned food, there was a sudden lack of weight on him and a pair of hopeful reddish-brown eyes looked at him from under blonde locks.
Chuckling at this, the older blonde sat up. He reached into the bag still in his hands and pulled out…
"A calzone!"
"Yup, I managed to get some, before the shop closed. I even got us breakfast for tomorrow."
"Thank you, you´re the best!" Rosinante cried out in joy as his brother handed over the folded stuffed pizza, which he took and dug in with enthusiasm.
"You´re welcome, Rosi," laughed the older brother before starting on his own food. They eat in silence, leaning against each other for comfort.
When they finished their dinner, Doflamingo led the younger boy to a back room, that served as their makeshift bedroom, with an old mattress and several blankets.
"Brother, what are we going to do tomorrow?" asked Rosinante as Doflamingo settled them on their bed.
"Well, I think we should try to approach the captain from the ship that arrived a few days ago," mussed the older blonde as he put away his sunglasses. "He and his crew will be leaving again soon and we shouldn´t waste more time. After all, they´re our best bet to leave this island."
The younger blonde seemed hesitant at the idea. "But it was a pirate crew. Are you sure it would be a good idea?"
"Positive. They have two boys around my age with them and from what I saw they aren´t dangerous to us," the 9-years-old answered promptly. Seeing his brother´s expression, he added: "If it makes you feel better, I´ll first try talking to the boys and find out more about the crew."
"…okay," nodded Rosinante, before yawning.
"Go to sleep, Rosi," ordered Doflamingo softly.
Another yawn. "Don´t want to…"
"Rosi… will you go to sleep if I told you a story?"
"Un. Tell me the one about the three brothers, please."
"You sure like the story, despite how much it scared you before."
"I like when you tell it to me. Now, please, big brother…"
"Okay, okay," chuckled the older blonde, before clearing his throat.
"There were once three brothers, who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure…"
"Death," spoke Rosinante, making Doffy smile.
"…And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of the three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.
So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.
Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.
And then Death asked the third and youngest brother, what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.
Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so talking with wonder of the adventure they had had and admiring Death's gifts.
In due course, the brothers separated, each for his own destination.
The first brother travelled on for a week more and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand, he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.
That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden upon his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat.
And so Death took the first brother for his own.
Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.
Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself to truly join her.
And so Death took the second brother from his own.
But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend and went with him gladly, and as equals, they departed this life…"
"…The End..." finished Doflamingo. He looked at his brother and smiled as he saw him sound asleep, curled up against his side.
The smile then fell and a sigh left his lips.
Honestly, this wasn´t what he expected from his second life.
When he woke up in a body of an 8-years-old child, he had been confused and somehow relieved. He was confused because before that moment, the last thing he remembered having another fight with his ex-girlfriend and her firing the Killing Curse at him. And because he never believed in reincarnation. He was also relieved, because, while some would freak out in this situation, the wizard saw it as a chance to start anew. A new life without the previous burdens and worries that were dumped on him after the war. Without the Wizarding world dumping on him all their expectations, he was free.
He embraced it with his whole heart.
And that was when Harry Potter, the Man-who-conquered, accepted his new life as Donquixote Doflamingo.
It took him a whole week of looking through eight-years-worth of the memories of this life until he properly orientated himself, but he managed. He had to, as he had a little brother to look after.
And hadn´t that came as a pleasant surprise – the knowledge that he wasn´t alone, but had a family to call his own.
Even if he was an orphan again.
That was one of the few things he blamed his father for.
The man was a fool. A fool with a big heart, but still a fool that didn´t think things through. Homing didn´t realize all consequences of his actions until they came to bite them all in the ass. Just looking back he could name sever occasions where such a thing happened. Them leaving the ranks of Celestial Dragons and losing everything at the hands of the angry citizens being the glaring examples of such events. Doflamingo could understand that his father grew disgusted with the way other Celestial Dragons acted and lived – like spoiled children believing themselves to be Gods. Even the boy was disgusted, especially after he realized he was acting the same before the memories of his previous life came back to him. But what pissed the young wizard off the most was the man´s lack of foresight about how would people react to ex-Celestial Dragons.
Because of that, the two brothers lost their mother, father and even a place to call home.
So the blonde could honestly say that, if given chance, he would give his father a concussion for all his stupid decisions. But he didn´t hate him, no. He was angry with him, but the man was a caring parent and loving husband. And that´s how he will always remember him, just as he would always remember their mother as a gentle, smiling being that loved them above everything.
And he made sure Rosinante knew their parents loved them.
Doflamingo took his role as the older sibling very seriously and did his best to ensure they survived on the streets. Luckily for him, he still had his magic, although it took a while until he learned how to cast without a wand. That made getting necessities like food, clothes and shelter that much easier. True, he sometimes had to steal things, which lead to him ending chased by angry people, but he managed.
Until he stole from the wrong band.
Doflamingo didn´t tell this to his brother, but people were looking for them, or him, to be precise. The band, from which he stole three months ago, was apparently still angry about it and wanted to catch him. The blonde knew it was probably a very bad move. But in his defence, he did it because he had learned that they had a really useful Devil fruit and even a gun lying around. So he went to their hideout and took both, because he needed all advantage he could get, to protect and take care of his little brother. Besides, they would probably stop looking for him soon, or so he hoped.
He wasn´t so lucky.
Despite all the time that passed, they were still just as angry and just as determined to catch him. They even posted a bounty on his head, for crying out loud!
So he knew that staying was a bad idea. The only thing that kept him and his brother alive was their determination, luck and an impossible number of charms and magic, that were specially laid to make it harder for them to be found. But it was only a matter of time before they were found out.
He really hoped that tomorrow, he could convince the pirates to take them with them. They needed to get away and quickly.
Hearing Rosinante whimper in his sleep, he wrapped his hands around the smaller blonde and hugged him as close as possible.
"There, there, Rosi," he murmured softly. "Everything will be alright. I´ll make sure of it." He meant every word of it and prayed that whatever deity listening would hear him out and grant him the strength.
"Come one, Rosi! We´re almost here!" called Doflamingo as they walked down the road towards the docks. They both carried a bag with their humble belongings, as they put faith in what was about to happen today. Today, they would approach the pirates and hopefully, gain means to leave this island. They hoped that the pirates would let them come with them, or accepted their gathered money as payment for taking them to the next island. If they didn´t accept, then Doflamingo was ready to sneak in and hide them on the ship, until they sailed away.
"I´m coming!" yelled the younger blonde as he hurried after his brother. He managed to catch up and even gain a small lead over Doffy. "Now you have to catch up!" he giggled, running backwards.
Doflamingo laughed at his brother´s silly behaviour. "Careful on your way! I don´t want to see you crash into something!"
"Don´t worry, Doffy! I´m-" the smaller kid was cut mid-sentence as he bumped into something and fell on the ground.
"Rosi! Are you alright?" the older brother demanded to know as he ran over and started checking him for any injury.
"I-I´m fine," replied Rosinante.
The sunglasses-wearing boy frowned, but before he could say anything, he froze as a dangerously familiar voice spoke:
"Well, well, if this isn´t the brat from last night! Looks like today is our lucky day, boys! We will get out money, after all!"
The tugs from last night, the eldest Donquixote thought with slowly growing fear. He was quick to order his brother to hide behind him as he took a defensive stance.
Rosinante, feeling the situation going bad, quickly dove behind his brother, looking fearfully at the men that slowly surrounded them.
"So, brat, yesterday you escaped us, but today your luck ran out," smirked the obvious leader of the group.
"Yah! You will pay for leading us on the chase! Then we will claim your bounty!" laughed another man from the group.
Doflamingo growled at those words, feeling his magic tingling underneath his skin. It reacted with his emotions and he was ready to blast his way out, if necessary. Now he just had to wait for the right opportunity…
"What´s going on here?!" demanded a new voice, whose owner none of the boys could see because of the thugs.
The gang leader turned his head to address the stranger: "Get lost! This doesn´t-"
Now!
Doflamingo moved his hand and yelled: "Expelliarmus!"
Instantly, the spell blasted the leader, along with two other´s away, creating an opening.
"Rosi, run!" commanded the older blonde and they tried to run through the gap between the men.
What happened next, the young wizard remembered in fragments.
The thugs shouted after them.
There was the sound of a gunshot.
His brother´s pain-filled cry and the sight of the younger blonde falling down.
He remembered seeing blood.
And then he saw red.