Anima Perdita

Summary:

Harry and Marcus are twin brothers who have been on their own since they were eight years old, after running away from the neglect of their parents and little sister, Rose; but, when the truth of who actually destroyed Voldemort finally comes out, the Wizarding World discovers that it actually needs the Potter twins.

Forced to return to the people they hate most, will this broken family be able to repair what's been done, or will the Wizarding World burn in the fires of vengeance?

XXXX

The meeting room was as quiet as a tomb as everyone took in what Albus Dumbledore had just said; the only sound that could be heard was coming from a red-headed woman who was sobbing into the chest of her husband, a black-haired man, who looked as though he too were fighting back the tears.

Sitting beside her parents, looking heartbroken, was a teenager who looked the spitting image of her mother; the girl had her mother's fiery red skin and glowing green eyes, but where her mother's hair was sleek and straight, the girl's was bushy and chaotic.

"But…. How can that be possible?" Sirius Black asked tightly, "You assured us that Rose was the one!"

"It would seem as though I was mistaken?" Dumbledore replied wearily as he ran a hand over his old face.

"Mistaken?" Lily hissed before lunging at the aged headmaster, only to be held back by her husband, "Mistaken?! You cost me, my sons!"

A sudden scoff made everyone turn to Severus Snape, sitting lazily in one of the nearby chairs; James and Sirius turned pink as they looked at their hated schoolmate.

"Really, Lily?" Snape asked with a sneer, "Did Dumbledore force you to laud adulation on one child while forgetting the other two? If so, then he is a most powerful wizard indeed."

The Potters flinched as though Snape's words were physical blows, and Rose covered her face in her hands as she began to silently cry, her thoughts on her two big brothers that she had not seen in six years. A moment later, her best friend Hermione touched her shoulder as she tried to comfort Rose.

XXXX

The Potter family had been happy once, but that was before Voldemort had attacked their home in Godric's Hollow; back then, Lily and James had treated all three of their children the same, with love and laughter. But that all changed after Voldemort's attack; Rose's grandmother, James' mother, had been watching the children while Lily and James attended an Order meeting. When the Potters returned, they found three screaming children, one dead old woman near their crib (James had become inconsolable at the sight of his dead mother), and a bundle of black robes lying near the door. After being proclaimed the Girl-Who-Lived, Rose was given everything, and her brother's almost nothing.

Every Christmas, Rose would receive dozens of presents while Harry and Marcus would get one gift each if they were lucky; the same was said for birthdays if the Potters remembered Harry and Marcus' birthday at all.

Needless to say that all this attention and praise went straight to Rose's head, and she quickly became a spoiled little brat who would constantly blame her two big brothers whenever she did something wrong, laughing as the twins were punished.

But, everything changed on Rose's seventh birthday when she had run into the twin's room to torment them by showing them her new broom that James had bought; to her surprise, the room was covered in a fine layer of dust, showing that no one had slept in there for some time.

When Rose had run downstairs to tell everyone, at first, the Potters had looked confused before horror stole over their features at the recollection that they had not seen their sons in over two weeks.

Immediately, a search was underway to find Harry and Marcus, but it seemed as though the two of them had simply vanished off of the face of the earth; even Dumbledore, with all of his power and contacts, was unable to find the boys.

Not long after, word reached the Daily Prophet about the two elder sons of House Potter running away due to receiving nothing but neglect at the hands of their parents; as Lily and James read the words, their hearts sank as they realized that every word was accurate. The Potters' reputation took a significant hit after this, and even Rose was no longer looked at with awe by the masses; now, the Potters were looked at with contempt by their enemies and disgust by nearly everyone else.

Desperate to correct the sins of their past, Lily and James began to change the way that they treated Rose; no longer was she spoiled and given everything that her heart desired, now she was raised the way she should have been from the start alongside her brothers, and slowly but surely Rose began to change into a better person.

As the years passed, the Potters and the Order of the Phoenix never ceased their search for their sons, despite everyone else believing them dead; hoping to repair their reputation, and because no one else was willing to hire her for what she did, Lily applied for the post of Charms at Hogwarts, which Dumbledore happily obliged.

A few years later, when Marcus and Harry would have turned eleven, Lily had anxiously waited to see if her sons would be among the first years, only to weep in bitter disappointment when their names were called and no one stepped forward.

Dumbledore tried to mollify the Potters by saying that the fact that the twin's names were called meant that they were still alive and that that was a good thing, but even the knowledge that their boys were alive didn't assuage the feelings of grief and guilt that ran through them like wildfire.

The following year when Rose started her first year of Hogwarts, was hard on her; nearly everyone knew what she and her parents had made the twin Potter boys do, and as a result, she was virtually shunned by the rest of her housemates, and the rest of Hogwarts in general. The fact that she was sorted into Gryffindor didn't help as people demanded to know how she had tricked the sorting hat as there was no way she belonged in the house of the brave and chivalrous.

The only person to stand by her side was a Muggleborn named Hermione Granger, and the two quickly became best friends, which was good because, like Rose, Hermione too was being shunned by her housemates for no crime except being a 'know it all.'

If Rose expected a quiet year of learning, she was sorely mistaken; her first year saw her fighting a troll, helping to smuggle an illegal dragon out of the country, and finally being forced to fight a Hogwarts professor, who turned out to be possessed by the shade of Voldemort, in order to stop him from stealing an artifact that could potentially bring Voldemort back to power.

Rose's reputation had grown and healed since her first year as every year seemed to grow steadily worse and more dangerous, which only increased her reputation, though she no longer desired such a thing.

Her second year, Rose had been even worse, if that was possible when students began being petrified by some kind of monster that no one seemed able to find and destroy; Rose's parents, having already lost two children, demanded that Rose have someone with her at all times until the beast was slain.

Things had grown more volatile throughout the year until finally coming to a head when Hermione became another victim. A first-year named Ginny Weasley was then abducted by the monster and taken into the Chamber of Secrets, where the monster allegedly lived.

Having spent most of the year investigating and researching, Rose managed to figure out where the entrance of the Chamber was by deducing that Moaning Myrtle, a ghost who haunted a girl's bathroom, had been, in fact, one of the monster's victims fifty years earlier.

After a careful search, Rose discovered a tiny snake carved into one of the faucets, but no matter what she did, it just would not open for her; it was only when Rose kicked the sink angrily, hurting her foot as a result and hopping around hissing obscenities that the sink rose into the air and the entrance showed itself.

Unfortunately, that was as far as Rose got as her parents, along with her Godfather Sirius and Headmaster Dumbledore, burst into the bathroom; her parents had nearly lost their minds when they discovered that she wasn't in her room and had promised swift and brutal punishment for stupidly thinking about going into the Chamber alone.

Ordering her to remain with her mother, James, Dumbledore, and Sirius dove into the entrance to rescue Ginny and kill the beast; an hour later, they returned with an unconscious Ginny in Dumbledore's arms, covered in blood and, strangely, ink, and all looked exhausted and pale, as though they had seen something truly nightmarish.

Rose didn't know what they faced down there as none of them would ever speak about it, but whatever it was had truly scared her father, and that alone scared Rose; once word slipped out that Rose had found the Chamber and led Dumbledore to it, she became an instant celebrity again, much to her disgust as she didn't enjoy fame like she used to.

Ron Weasley, a boy in Rose's year who had never spoken to her except to insult her, approached her and apologized for how he had treated her before; he then gratefully thanked Rose for saving his little sister before heading back to his seat next to Ginny.

Rose's third year was thankfully calm, and nothing out of the ordinary happened, save for her father becoming the new flying teacher; Rose had mistakenly believed that the worse was over and had thoroughly enjoyed her third year with more friends than just Hermione to associate with, though the bushy-haired witch was still counted as Rose's best friend.

Rose's previous year, her fourth, had been the worst one of her life; her name had somehow been placed in the Goblet of Fire, and she had been forced to participate in an incredibly dangerous tournament.

Her parents had been livid with rage and had tried everything in the repertoire to get Rose out of it, all to no effect; the year had gotten steadily worse when reporter Rita Skeeter had begun to lambast Rose and her parents continuously.

After writing an article about Marcus and Harry that seemed to imply that Lily and James killed them and hidden their bodies somewhere, Lily finally decided that enough was enough and confronted Rita Skeeter; Rose didn't know what her mother had said, but the next day Rita had quit the Daily Prophet and swiftly vanished.

Things came to a head at the end of the Triwizard Tournament when Rose was abducted via Portkey and her blood used in a ritual that brought Voldemort back to life; as Rose sat tied to the tombstone that she was against, she never felt more afraid in her life and desperately wished her big brother were there to save her.

As expected of a megalomaniac, Voldemort couldn't help but give a speech as he repeatedly Crucioed Rose, talking about how the World and Dumbledore in particular, had made a horrible mistake; amid the sounds of her own screams, Rose heard with growing horror how it hadn't been her who had defeated Voldemort, but instead it had been Marcus and Harry.

When their grandmother had died for them, it had created an impenetrable shield that made them untouchable; when Voldemort tried to kill the two of them, his spell bounced back and destroyed him instead.

When Rose had finally been leased from the pain of the torture curse, she couldn't help but remember the strange scar that both twins had on their foreheads in the shape of a lightning bolt; only the placement of the scars differed, with Marcus' being over his right eye, and Harry's being over his left.

Apparently tired of playing with his food, Voldemort raised his wand to kill the weeping girl that lay before him when Dumbledore and an army of Aurors, led by her Uncle Sirius, suddenly appeared, and the battle ensued.

Apparently out of practice, the Death Eaters had begun to fall, one after another, as Voldemort dueled Dumbledore; seeing that he would lose if he stayed, Voldemort had ordered an immediate retreat, and Rose was quickly taken to St. Mungos for treatment.

XXXX

That had been a week ago, now; the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had tried to cover up the Dark Lord's return, but with so many Aurors having seen him in action, it soon proved impossible, and he was forced to admit that Voldemort had indeed returned.

Since then, Voldemort and his Death Eaters had been quiet, with only a few raids here and there; according to Snape, Voldemort was more concerned with finding the twins that had destroyed him than terrorizing a few Muggles.

After convening the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore was forced to explain why the Dark Lord was so interested in two runaways; needless to say, the result left more than one person glaring at Dumbledore in disgust and anger.

"So, what you're saying is that we're screwed," Tonks said with a grimace, making everyone turn to her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked with a raised brow,

"Even if we find them, what makes you think they would willingly want to come back and fight for us?" Tonks sneered, "After how they were treated, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to join You-Know-Who."

Everyone in the room paled at the implication that through their own fault, they might have inadvertently caused the only ones who could defeat Voldemort to join him instead; Dumbledore, Lily, and James turned so white that they looked like ghosts as they realized what they had done, and Dumbledore seemed to age right before their eyes.

"Harry and Marcus wouldn't do that!" Rose cried angrily as she jumped from her seat

"And how exactly do you know that?" Tonks countered, "They left because of you and your parents! Who knows how much they've changed in the six years since they've last been seen!"

Rose opened her mouth to retort when the door to the meeting room opened with a loud bang as it shot open and banged against the wall as a horribly scarred wizard limped in.

"Remus?" James and Sirius asked in shock as the wizard strode up to the table and took his place beside Dumbledore; it had been almost six years since James and Sirius had seen their old friend, and from his haggard appearance, the years had not been kind to him.

Blaming the Potters and Dumbledore for the twins' disappearance and further angered by how long it took them to realize that the twins were gone, Remus had cut all ties with his former friends and left in search of his 'pups.'

"It's good to see you, old friend," Sirius said with a warm smile that promptly dropped when Remus turned to him and gave a look so cold that it seemed to freeze the room.

"Wish I could say the same," Remus replied with a sneer, "I'm only here to ensure that my pups are taken care of, and seeing as how no one here can be trusted to do that, it falls to me."

The room seemed to flinch as one as Remus' words, no one more so than the Potters and Sirius, who looked down in shame, unable to meet their former friend's eyes.

"Do you know where they are?" Lily asked desperately a moment later, causing Remus to turn his cold eyes to her and seemingly freeze her in place.

"Yes," Remus replied after a moment of silence, "I finally managed to track them down."

"And?!" James cried desperately as the room held its breath, "Where are they? Where are my boys?!"

"They're not yours," Remus sneered, causing James to turn pink angrily, "You proved that a long time ago, Potter."

James flinched for a moment at the use of his last name from his friend before anger replaced shame, and he took a step forward menacingly,

"You tell me where my children are, or so help me!" James snapped,

"You'll what?!" Remus growled, his eyes flashing wolf yellow as he turned fully towards his former friends, "What will you do, Potter?"

"That's enough!" Dumbledore roared, causing the room to jump, "We are all to blame for what happened. I can only pray that the twins will be able to forgive us."

"Not bloody likely," Remus scoffed as he reached into his coat for something,

"What do you mean?" Lily asked desperately,

"Harry and Marcus are not the same children that you remember," Remus replied as he pulled out a copy of a French Muggle newspaper that showed a picture from what looked like a security camera; the photo showed two figures dressed entirely in black and wearing what appeared to be grinning skull masks, but what caught everyone's attention was the lightning bolts that were carved into the masks, one above the right eye and one above the left.

"Allow me to introduce you all to Thunder and Lightning," Remus said softly as everyone crowded around the newspaper to see it, "The most prolific and dangerous criminals that Europe has seen in the last fifty years, at least."

"My brothers are criminals?" Rose asked in horror as she looked at the picture,

"Indeed," Remus replied with a sad nod, "Art thieves, to be precise. Responsible for several high-value robberies over the years. This picture was taken three days ago when the pair stole Eugene Delacroix's " Leading the People " painting. It's caused them to jump to number one on Interpol's most wanted list."

Dumbledore's mind reeled as he listened to Remus talk about the two that most needed to be found; how could two fourteen-year-old boys possibly be so notorious?

"Lily's eyes suddenly rolled back into her head, and she swiftly collapsed; James barely managed to catch his wife before she hit the floor, and as he held her, he couldn't help but choke back a sob as he realized how badly he had failed as a father to his two sons.

"How are you sure these two criminals are Marcus and Harry Potter?" Molly Weasley asked, "You can't see their faces, after all!"

"I know their scent," Remus replied, turning to her, "I've been tracking it for over six years. So I'd know it better than anyone."

"Do you know where they are now?" James asked desperately, "Please, Remus, if you know, you must tell us!"

"Indeed," Dumbledore replied, "The fate of our world depends on it!"

"I don't give a toss about the Magical World!" Remus growled, shocking everyone into silence, "The Magical World is what caused my pups to be forgotten while you all waited on Rose, hand and foot! The Magical World is the reason why I can't hold a job, nor ever will, I imagine!"

Several heads dipped in guilt and shame at that, but Remus just kept on with his tirade,

"The only thing I care about is whether or not my pups are happy and safe."

"You call letting two teenage boys run around robbing whoever they please safe?" Sirius demanded, "They're criminals!"

"Yes, they are," Remus snapped back, "And who's fault is that? Weren't you supposed to be Harry's godfather? Oh, that's right! You traded up when James asked you to be Rose's godfather instead."

Sirius's face took on a milky color as he looked away in shame, unable to deny the truth of Remus' words.

Casting one last sneer at Sirius, Remus turned back to Dumbledore,

"I will bring them here, not for you and not for the Magical World, but for them. To make sure that they are kept safe. But if you try and use them again like you used Rose, I will gut you, old man, got me?"

Dumbledore could only nod at the angry werewolf before him, unable to say anything after the verbal beatdown that Remus had bestowed on everyone.

"How long will it take to find them and bring them here?" Rose asked softly, causing Remus to turn to her,

"Shouldn't take me too long to track them now that I have a fresh scent," Remus replied, "I'll return when I have them."

Turning to leave, Remus was stopped by Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder,

"Perhaps you should take some of the Order with you, just to be safe."

"I can handle myself, thank you," Remus growled, shaking off Dumbledore's hand, "And out of everyone here, I'm the least likely to be physically attacked when the boys see me."

Nodding his head sadly, Dumbledore motioned that he understood, and Remus strode away; a moment later, the group heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, leaving behind a quiet and subdued Order to continue their meeting.

XXXX

It's almost too easy, isn't it, Marcus?" Harry asked as he enjoyed his basket of fries; across from him, his brother Marcus likewise enjoyed his salad as the two boys stared at the museum across from them. Hanging from the entrance was a large poster that told anyone interested that the painting 'Salvator Mundi' by Leonardo de Vinci would be a guest of the museum for the next month.

"I doubt it's as easy as they're making it, little brother," Marcus replied with a wink,

"You're like twenty minutes older than me!" Harry retorted back angrily, as he always did when Marcus taunted him.

Even a fool could see that the two boys were twins; they looked identical, right down to their cheeky grins and constantly tapping feet.

Both boys shared their father's messy black hair and their mother's glowing green eyes; the only difference was their appearance.

Marcus was dressed in an expensive-looking Italian suit that was as black as his hair, which contrasted sharply with his blood-red shirt; his shoulder-length hair was tied back at the base of his skull.

Harry wore a cream-colored short-sleeve dress shirt and a pair of black dress pants; unlike his brother, Harry kept his hair short to avoid getting it caught in anything while on a job; he also thought it looked kind of girly and would constantly tease Marcus about it.

"Still counts!" Marcus laughed back, taking one of Harry's fries, throwing it into the air, and catching it in his mouth,

"Still can't believe it," Harry hissed back excitedly, "Number one most wanted!"

"Keep your voice down!" Marcus hissed back, quickly looking around, "You're gonna get us caught!"

"What are they gonna do?" Harry laughed, "Throw us into jail? Did you forget that we can teleport? We'd be out of prison before the ink dried on the cop's report!"

Marcus shook his head in exasperation; he loved his twin, he really did, but Harry had a knack for acting without thinking, and on more than one occasion, it had cost them their haul on a job.

"So, we doing this?" Harry asked warily, "You know we don't have to. The money we made from our last job will keep us afloat for a long time…."

"It's not about the money, Harry," Marcus replied, "It's about playing the game."

Harry grinned back at his twin before putting on his sunglasses and standing up to leave,

"Then, let's go and play, shall we?"

"Do let's," Marcus replied with a grin of his own as he, too, stood to leave; the twins exited the restaurant and turned into a corner into what appeared to be a dead-end alley, but a moment later, they were both gone.

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Author's Note:

Imagine Merida from Disney's Brave if you want to know what Rose looks like. Also, because it's one of my favorite Anime, the twin's masks look like Ichigo's hollow mask from Bleach.