Chapter 12: The witch from Axaban

James put down his mug and ran a hand down his face. His early wake-up call was starting to catch up with him. The warm comfort of tea had gone some way to help but it still felt like there was a tiny little gnome with a tiny little hammer bashing around his skull. Long gone were the days where he'd be able to come home from a night shift at St-Mungo's and still be up for a whole day of tumbling around and playing with his kids.

Though to be fair, it wasn't exactly like he'd know what to do with this boy pretending to be his long-dead son even if he hadn't woken up at the crack of dawn…

James rubbed his face again and stole a look at the boy across the table. He didn't look like much of a threat, but he certainly knew the right questions to ask and seemed to know quite a bit more than he let on, which put James on edge.

Lily, on the other hand, looked like she'd made up her mind at some point during the conversation – her smile had a knowing and tremulous quality it often took when she looked at the girls and Sam. Now if only he could feel the same…

"So," James said after he felt the silence had gone on for long enough. "We've covered what happened here, but it looks like things on your end went a bit differently… Care to enlighten us?"

He didn't go as far as saying 'you're obviously alive' but his gesture must have made it pretty clear. The boy's face closed off again.

Lily sent him one of her mildly disapproving looks and turned back to the boy.

"I'd be interested to hear about that as well, actually, if you wouldn't mind," she said, and the boy nodded jerkily.

"Voldemort tried to kill me on Halloween. I survived. Voldemort disappeared," he answered laconically.

Something about the boy's choice of words caught James's attention.

"Disappeared…" he said thoughtfully. "You said that earlier too, didn't you?"

When the boy simply shrugged, he carried on: "Why though? Most people say he died. Why aren't you?"

The boy seemed to hesitate.

"Because he didn't," he answered at last, and something about his tone of voice made a shiver run down James's spine. "At least, not on the day he attacked Godric's Hollow. You know that too, right?"

James heard the breath catch in Lily's throat as the boy's ominous words hung in the air. Did they really know that? he wondered. They'd always suspected. They'd even talked about it after what happened with Vi last year, but so far no-one, not even Dumbledore, had given voice to that particular suspicion of theirs.

James knit his brows and was about to reply when the fire in the living room roared.

"Prongs!" a familiar voice bellowed.

The boy froze.

"Prongs, I need to send the sprogs back – emergency call! Prongs, for Merlin's sake!"

James hurried over to the next room and got there just in time to collect Sam, propelled out of the fire. He was quickly followed by Violet, Anna and a flustered Sirius, who was pulling on his Auror robes.

"There you are. I have to go." He edged closer to James, talking more quietly now. "There's been a break-out. Azkaban."

"What?" James shouted, before lowering his voice quickly. "Who? When? How?"

"That's what I'd like to know too…" Sirius muttered. "They don't know much yet, but so far it looks like it's just my delightful cousin…"

"Bellatrix?"

"Who else? Last time I checked she was my only incarcerated relative – for the time being at least… They've only just noticed she was gone. They think someone on the outside may have provided her with a wand. Anyway, they want all hands on deck, so I have to go."

He took one quick look at James's face then did a double take. "You alright, mate? You look a bit funny – hang on, is that Lily I can hear? Wasn't she meant to be home tomorrow? Have you done something stupid that you've forgotten to tell me about?"

James gave Sirius a shove, glad the children had noticed Lily's cases and scattered in search of her.

"No, you prat. It's nothing, just… it's complicated. I'll tell you later."

"Alright, if you say so," Sirius said. And with a final suspicious look James's way, he fastened the last clasp on his robe and headed back towards the fire. "Right. Got to go, but we'll speak later, ok?"

James stayed in the living room long enough to see the last of the green flames fade and heaved a sigh. Bellatrix Lestrange, free from Azkaban. As if they needed something else to worry about today, with the boy –

And with that he froze.

Before his brain had fully caught up with the implications of it all, James was already halfway across the room. Lily and the kids were all gathered in the hallway, Anna predictably mid-tale.

"And then the Auror said: 'The witch escaped from Axaban!'"

"It's Azkaban, you dolt," Violet grumbled, "and she didn't say witch either, she said bi–"

Sam gasped at Violet's choice of words, but Lily was too stunned to correct her.

"James!" she said as he rushed past her. "James, did you hear –?"

"Just a minute," he called over his shoulder as Anna rattled on: "Then Uncle Padfoot swore even worse than when Dad drove the car over his foot last year and…"

Stepping into the kitchen, James spelled the door shut, effectively blocking out the sounds from the hallway.

How could he not have asked about this sooner! He'd even noticed the patch of darkness around the boy's forearm when he'd first run the diagnostic spell… The boy could be Bellatrix in disguise – or, more likely, he could be Bellatrix's contact, the one who'd sent her a wand!

James raised his wand and turned to face the boy.

"Show me your arm," he said, his voice low.

The boy sat as if frozen. Only his eyes moved, darting from James's face to his wand, to the two doors out of the kitchen.

"Show. Me. Your. Arm."

The boy blinked and slowly, as if unwilling to make any sudden movements, he brought up his left sleeve, revealing a long scar – but no mark.

"What's that?" James asked, pointing at the scar.

"It's a cut."

"It's got some dark magic on it."

The boy didn't appear shocked by the revelation.

"Wormtail did this to me, so I can't say I'm surprised," he said with a shrug. "I'm not a Death Eater. This isn't a Dark Mark – you know it can't be concealed."

James did know that – but could it simply be cut out? he wondered. Though why a loyal servant of the Dark Lord would willingly do that…

"What are you doing here?" he asked instead. "What do you want?"

"I just made a wish. I wanted to spend time with Sam – I guess something made it come true?"

"Why?"

The boy frowned. "Why what?"

"Why did you want to spend more time with Sam?" James asked in a forced patient tone.

After all, it was a reasonable question. Why would a teenage boy want to leave his own life to go spend time with a younger brother he surely already –

And again, James's mind stalled, rebooted and presented him with yet another vision of reality, one where this boy really was who he claimed to be, Harry from another world – a world where, for some reason, he wasn't able to spend time with Sam…

James found he didn't really like where this was going… He was so taken aback by this new idea that he almost missed the fact that the boy had started talking.

"I guess I just wanted a little break from my own life," the boy said, his tone suddenly sharp. "And spending time in a dream was supposed to be a nice way to relax. Now considering how things have been going so far, I'll be sure not to make the same mistake again!"

With that, he tried to get up only to have the spell throw him back on his chair.

"Oh for god's sake," the boy groaned and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he looked defeated. "Fine. You win."

"What do you mean?"

"Just cast whatever spells you need to feel safe from me and show me the quickest way out of the house. Then I'd appreciate my wand back, and I'll be out of your hair, alright?"

A/N: Thank you all for reading, and a special thanks for all the reviews! Things pick up a bit here – hope you've enjoyed the drama in this chapter :)