Harry Potter.

Professor Lily Potter, the muggle studies teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sighed; the weary way she sighed spoke of how heavy her heart was. She had struggled for years about the decision to leave her eldest son with her sister and her bastard thuggish husband, but at the time Lily had been determined to hope for the best for Harry.

Petunia might have hated her for being a witch, although Lily knew her elder sister's arrogance and petulant attitude had begun long before the Hogwarts letter had arrived. Petunia had always hated her. She had always tried to undermine her and put her down simply because of her looks, and how effortlessly talented she was.

Why Petunia even needed to be that way, Lily didn't even know. At the same time, she wished her adoptive parents had not fawned over her so much, so then Petunia wouldn't feel second best to a girl younger than herself. In the end, it didn't matter, and at the end of it, Lily decided she didn't care about why the odious girl who loved gossiping and spying on others because she was just so nosy was getting on her nerves.

Finally, Lily had snapped and she'd injured Petunia in a burst of accidental magic.

At the time she had just turned twelve. She hadn't even been arguing with Petunia at the time, either; she had been trying to actively ignore her sister, who was once more calling her a freak. Lily had done her best to ignore Petunia and just get on with what she'd been doing, but when Petunia suddenly tore her diary away from her, she'd had enough, and she severed her attempts to try to make peace with Petunia and make her sister grow up and wake the fuck up.

After that incident, the two sisters openly hated one another. Lily never bothered with trying to make amends with Petunia. Dumbledore's policy of blanket forgiveness had not reached her, and truthfully Lily found it liberating to openly despise the girl because she could now see just how pathetic her sister was.

Leaving - no, abandoning Harry with her sister - was one of the worst decisions Lily had ever made. Because she had given in. She hadn't wanted to send Harry anywhere near Petunia or Vernon, especially Vernon, because the fat pig was even more anti-magic than Petunia herself, and there was just something about the way he held himself that worried Lily. Unfortunately, her husband, already reeling from the attack on their home by Voldemort, had thought it better than leaving him with a foster home or an orphanage. Lily would have preferred it if he was left there, but she had been reeling as well.

And so they had made the decision, and mistake, of leaving Harry with Petunia and Vernon.

As the years passed, Lily had longed to see Harry again, but she'd decided against it; she had seen how jealousy had warped Petunia until she'd lashed out. The thought of her own child-hating and envying her and his sisters, Rose and Jasmine, when they were born only deepened this.

Not a day went by without Lily and James thinking of Harry. They often did; they imagined him having a happy life with Petunia and Vernon who, seeing him as 'normal' would raise him like their own son. The thought hurt, but it was better than the alternative. When Harry didn't attend Hogwarts, the hope their son was not a squib but a wizard, died.

And so, the Potters got on with their lives.

And now this.

Lily had been against the Triwizard Tournament coming to Hogwarts from the start. Was Dumbledore out of his mind? Lily had never liked being a member of Dumbledore's little group because of the old man's complacent and nonchalant attitude, and his habit of keeping things a closely guarded secret until it was too late to do anything, but with both her sons' names coming out of the Goblet….!

The moment Lily and James had processed what was happening, they quickly went to Privet Drive. They had to find Harry, see him, and discover if he was a wizard or not, and then bring him to Hogwarts.

Only he wasn't there; Number 4 Privet Drive had burnt down in a fire years ago. Petunia, Vernon and Dudley were dead. Dead! And she hadn't even known.

Lily sighed again, kicking herself for not giving in to the urge to go and see Harry, to make sure he was okay. But what she hated the most was how she'd just dismissed her eldest as if he didn't exist.

Right now Lily was walking through Potter Manor. She still was when James met her, his own expression, usually so buoyant and jovial, was now sad and solemn. He gently led her to the family dining room. Lily was just glad her children were at Hogwarts and not here.

"What are we going to do, James?" Lily asked so faintly she barely heard herself ask the question.

James ran a hand through his messy hair. "I don't know, Lily. I don't know. How's Josh taking it?"

Lily sighed. "He's happy that he'll meet his brother, but Rose did ask me how a squib can take place in a Tournament that's so dangerous. I couldn't answer her."

James didn't know either.

"All these years, I thought he was well settled, but to find out my sister was killed in a fire…!" Lily clapped her hand to her mouth to stop herself sobbing again. She didn't care about Petunia or Vernon, but Harry was the important one. The only thing keeping her going was the knowledge Harry's body hadn't been found. They'd discovered that by conducting a few investigations in Little Whinging…

Sadly, Lily had discovered all of her misgivings about the Dursleys had proven accurate. Harry was seen as a delinquent but enough of the house had shown investigators Harry's bedroom was a Cupboard Under the Stairs. Analysis had shown signs of abuse and dried blood, indicating he'd likely been beaten. The bed itself was no larger than a baby's crib!

James bit his tongue to stop himself from feeling sick. "We'll find him, Lily," he vowed. "I've been doing some thinking," he went on, "do you remember that Blood Magic book that appeared in the kitchen at Godric's Hollow?"

Lily did remember it.

She had already been working on a protection rune for herself, her husband, and her children when they learnt Voldemort was after them all, and knowing the Dark Lord's penchant for violent ends, she had worked hard to find a solution. She had no desire to die, but she would for her babies. At the same time if Voldemort did attack, then perhaps they could take the snake-faced sonofabitch with them. Only he'd go straight into the depths of hell.

The book had mysteriously appeared. Lily had not bothered to read it, since she already had access to Blood Magic books, thanks to the well-equipped Potter Library, and besides there were several earmarked pages talking about sacrificial spells in the book, but she'd put it to the side.

As for who gave it to them…

Lily was not stupid.

Nor was James.

There was no doubt in their minds that Dumbledore had left it with them, and he was trying to play one of his schemes; the fact he'd been so unsubtle by marking the pages with sacrifices showed he already had ideas in mind and was pushing them there. The fact he did it so clumsily had helped the Potters survive.

"What about it?" Lily asked guardedly.

"When I was a kid, my grandmother told me there were rituals in Blood Magic that could be used to help track people, loved ones, down," as he spoke, James's voice became more excited. "I only found out because she found me flicking through it, and I asked her a few questions."

Lily sat up straighter. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely. I've even found the book. It took me longer than I hoped, but I found it," James stood up and picked up a thick leather-bound book stained dark red.

The colour of blood.

"When can we do the ritual?" Lily asked, excited.

"Any time. But I think we need to bring the kids home."

"Why?" Lily's eyes crinkled in surprise. James smiled, to him it was highly adorable, but he caught himself quickly and went with the explanation.

"This isn't your average ritual; you have to understand, that this ritual was created in a time when witches and wizards were separated from their loved ones, and it was created as a way of pinning down said loved ones. If you and I were the only ones to do it, we'd still find Harry. No problem. But if we had Josh, Rose, and Jasmine involved and donated a few drops of their blood, then we could find him quickly. The ritual forms a bond with Harry, and it will help us see what he's been dealing with," James explained.

"Dealing with?" Lily repeated, stunned.

"Blood carries memories as a person grows older. The people who created the ritual were only interested in tracking them down, but someone who lost their daughter - I've forgotten the story besides the basics - wanted to know what she'd gone through, so she made alterations and the ritual was adjusted ever since."

Lily had by now assimilated everything her husband was telling her and she began working things out in her mind. She both needed to know and yet didn't want to know what Harry had gone through with Petunia and Vernon, but she needed to know and to find him. But right now she didn't care about the Goblet or the Tournament.

She just wanted to find her child. She had to.

"When can we do this ritual?" Lily asked desperately.

"We can do it now, but the more blood we have, the quicker it will be. The ritual room has everything we need. As soon as we bring the kids home, we can start it tomorrow," James said.

Lily nodded, already composing her excuses to Dumbledore. "Let's get it ready now and let me have a look at the ritual. I want to make sure it's perfect."

-8-

"Will we find Harry with this ritual, Mum?" Josh asked excitedly; while he loved his sisters despite their frequent arguments, he loved them deeply. But ever since he had learnt he had a twin, explaining that sense of loss which had affected him on and off when he took the time to think about it, Josh had wanted to learn about his brother, Harry.

It was a while before he learnt the truth.

Finding out Harry was a squib hurt, and he could understand his parents' reasons for leaving him in the muggle world; you only had to meet someone as bitter as Filch to know how it would turn out, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Josh had longed to meet Harry, despite his parents' misgivings.

"That's what we're hoping," Lily tried to smile, but it came out feeling wobbly.

"One thing I don't get, Mum, how did his name come out of the Goblet?" Rose asked curiously.

"How would he even compete without magic?" Jasmine added.

Lily couldn't answer. Those questions weren't far away from the questions she had; why did Harry's name even come out in the first place? Where was he? How did Petunia and the others die? Hopefully, with this ritual, they would find out.

James walked over with a ritual knife and a bowl. "Now, remember what we told you," he said to spare his wife's feelings from the interrogation, "I'll need to take some of your blood, just make sure the droplets droop into the bowl."

When they'd gotten their children out of the school, Lily and James had already finished the preparations for the ritual. They only needed the blood. When they got Josh, Rose, and Jasmine home, they told their children what was happening. Rituals were banned by the Ministry barring a few, and blood magic was seen as dark.

But the good news was the Potter children didn't care, not if it helped them reunite with their brother.

"Okay, daddy," Rose said, wincing when her father gently but firmly cut her finger, and used his wand to summon some of her blood through the injury before he healed the cut.

Next, he did the same with Jasmine, and then with Josh. Finally, he finished up healing Lily's own cut, and the bottom of the bowl was filled with blood. Taking the bowl to the ritual bowl, James poured it in, praying he had done this right and they'd soon find Harry again. Once the bowl was filled, James began the chant. Lily followed suit, and they tapped the sides of the bowl with their wands. A fine white glow appeared over the finely bubbling liquid. Finally, the glow blinded the Potters, and a misty hologram appeared.

They saw everything.

Harry's birth.

Harry's time with Lily and James, and playing with Josh.

Voldemort's attack, which frightened Rose and Jasmine, but what shocked them the most was the sight of Voldemort's focus on Harry. For some reason, the Dark Lord seemed interested in Harry, more so than his twin. But why, wasn't Josh the Boy Who Lived?

"You would have made a great heir, Harry Potter," the Dark Lord said clearly, before hitting him with the killing curse….

Before Lily and James and the kids were able to comprehend it was Harry who'd been responsible for Voldemort's downfall, although Josh remembered how Voldemort had mocked him in his first year during the business with the Stone, where the Dark Lord said everyone had lied and got it wrong, but he wouldn't tell him, as it would be more amusing and useful to him in the future, which left Josh confused although he now knew the truth, more memories came out…

Vernon and Petunia caring for Dudley while they slapped him whenever he got in the way, or made a noise…

Petunia smacking him with a frying pan….

Harry burned himself when he was forced to make meals….

Being humiliated at school for not even knowing his own name!

Dudley and his gang and their 'Harry Hunting' games…..

Their blood boiled when they listened to Vernon and Petunia calling his parents an unemployed drunk and a slut. Lily glared at her husband for not bothering to listen to her about the orphanage option, but deep down she knew she wasn't blameless since she'd let him do it in the first place.

Seeing Vernon going mad whenever a deal never came out, how he blamed the 'freak.'

But what horrified the Potters the most was when Harry used magic, either to heal himself or to defend himself when he grew older…

"He's a wizard," Lily clapped a hand to her mouth in horror as she realised what they'd done. "Those fucking healers! What did they do!?"

James said nothing, none of them did. Their blood chilled when Harry, after watching him resorting to theft to survive before he was attacked, and they watched in horror when Harry committed a murder, but their horror grew when they saw Harry's personality change completely and he became darker, colder, and harder to everyone around him.

Suddenly Lily had a horrifying thought, and one look at her husband told her he'd got it too. They watched as Harry, surprised by Vernon suddenly opened the Cupboard under the Stairs, and Harry lashed out and killed the Dursleys before he escaped…

They saw him living in London as a thief, meeting a gang and running around with them….

They saw him getting into fights, and either using his powers to deal with them or whatever, and spending time with the gang so he could get over the worst of his conditioning before he went into foster care…

When Harry turned 11…they saw him get dozens of letters and prospectuses from different schools. They were stunned by the fact he didn't get a Hogwarts letter. Lily and James felt their hearts shatter when the wonder he had for the magic vanished when he learnt the news his parents were alive, coldly asking the goblin about the chances of casting himself out of the family; Lily was shaking her head in denial at what she was seeing and hearing, but she had to face facts, and the more she saw things from Harry's point of view, she could understand him more.

They saw him excel at the Australian Magical Academy, becoming a popular student. One of the things that both relieved and troubled the Potters watching all of this was, despite how content Harry was, he had asked to be given sessions with mind-healers to help him get over his abuse and his darker side.

Finally, the ritual was over and shaken by what they had seen, the Potters left, their minds churning with what they'd seen. They would need a lot of time to think about what they'd seen and put it into words, but now they knew what happened to Harry, so many things had become clearer and more horrifying.