A/N:

This is a message from DavidoDaVinci

Hello!

Today, we're dumping two chapters down! (Insert woo)

This chapter is about what happens after Harry is told he has a brother! Don't worry, we're working on one for Liam too.

Between the secrets at play, the sneaking around, and maybe some foreshadowing, we hope you enjoy 'The Aftermath: Part 1'!

One more thing, if you are actually reading this, review and say,

'You didn't read the AN, losers!'

Dunno, thought it'd be fun.

26/10/23

xXxDoubleKxXx

DavidoDaVinci

Chapter 9: The Aftermath: Part 1

Harry blinked.

"What?"

Of course, it was all acting. Harry knew perfectly well about his 'brother' but Albus Dumbledore couldn't find out that this information was not new. If he did, Harry's cover would be compromised and both he and his father would be in danger.

Dumbledore sighed. "I thought you would react like this. Yes, Harry, you have a brother called Liam Potter. He is two years younger than you, and I was wondering if you would like to meet him."

"Yes, I'd like that." Harry lied. It would be a very good way to retain cover, being interested in Liam. Harry doubted he would be useful outside of that.

There was another awkward silence. It was funny, Harry was usually very good at thinking of the right words to say. But there was something about Dumbledore that just… stopped him.

It was funny, Dumbledore was usually very good at thinking of the right words to say.

"Did you say he was two years younger than me?" Harry asked, in a last ditch effort to continue the conversation.

"Yes." Dumbledore said, absent-mindedly. "Yes, that's right."

It was amazing how quickly the conversation had shut down. Dumbledore may as well have invited Harry in, told him he had a brother, and dismissed him.

"Well, um… bye, then."

Harry's awkwardness was not the result of acting.

xxx

"Dear Mr. Brown,

I wasn't planning on writing to you but an awful lot has happened so I thought I might as well.

I had a few lessons today, including a lesson with Professor Potter, and afterwards I was sent to Dumbledore's office and told I had a brother.

I thought I was in trouble or something, but it was fine. I think he believed my acting; he wasn't sure at first… but it was fine.

I'll be seeing him soon, dang it.

Harry

Voldemort read the letter for the hundredth time. He kept thinking, not of the letter himself, but of ways to reply.

He was glad, of course, that Harry's cover hadn't been uncovered but he also knew that Albus Dumbledore was incredibly good at hiding things, and had an amazing intellect.

It wasn't, however, as if he was watching the stream of owls in and out of Hogwarts.

So why was it that he felt so worried about the possibility of sending a reply?

It was incredibly frustrating, and he had taken his anger out on any Death-Eater who had anything bad to say about anything.

It was therefore unfortunate, when Lucius announced that from then on, all letters in and out of Hogwarts would be read, and then sent on their way.

Harry was incredibly lucky that he had sent his in time.

Voldemort pondered over a response for a while longer before sitting down at his desk and picking up a piece of parchment and a quill.

xxx

In the meantime, it so happened to Harry that it would be a good idea to chat to Hermione about her locket. He redirected himself to the Ravenclaw common room, as opposed to the Slytherin one.

As he got there, he discovered that the Ravenclaw common room opened in rather a different manner to that of the one he was staying in.

As he got there, the door asked him a riddle which he realised he would have to answer in order to enter.

Harry always wondered afterwards why the common rooms couldn't just detect the house of the person coming in.

Nevertheless, the mouth of an eagle opened and asked:

"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?"

Harry considered the question. If I take… more left… not love… more left… more left… gah!

After a solid three minutes of trying to figure out left behind more depending on how much was left, he answered,

"A footstep?"

The door obediently swung inward, and inside was the statue of a beautiful young woman with a diadem, several armchairs, and a real young girl, who jumped at the sight of him.

"Harry! What are you doing here? You'll be in trouble if Filch catches you… or… or…"

"Relax," he said. "You scream at me, the castle falls down. And if it's bad enough, even Ron will wake up."

Hermione could not help but burst into heaps of laughter. By the time she had finished, she was feeling more relaxed than she had been in months.

She frowned. "You came to talk to me, didn't you?"

"Well, that and to discover what the Ravenclaw common room looks like."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, now you know. So?"

"So what?"

"So why did you want to talk to me? Duh."

"Well, what if I told you that I could open that locket up for you?" he said, with his head on one arm of the chair, his legs on the other.

Hermione's interest peaked. "You can?"

"Maybe. Chuck it over here."

Hermione, after a moment's hesitation, took it off and threw it to him. Harry caught it easily and pulled out his wand. He inhaled, and breathed "Alohomora," under his breath.

Feeling it unlock, he threw it back, smiling to himself.

Hermione caught it, barely, and opened it.

There was a minute's stunned silence, before she closed it, and threw it back to Harry, looking satisfied.

As Rowena Ravenclaw's stony face watched this strange game of catch, Harry opened the locket and gasped at the interior.

Inside were two things: a picture, and a family crest.

Harry recognised the crest immediately. It was his own, well, by birth, anyway. As he stared down at it, the Potter family crest stared back up at him.

"Wait… that's my family crest!" Harry said, and the shock in his voice was very real. He stared at her. "We aren't related, are we?"

Hermione frowned. "I suppose it's possible… Do you recognize the woman in the picture?"

Harry glanced down. The woman there was young, she had dark brown hair and silvery eyes. He shook his head.

"I've never seen her before… Is she your mother?"

Hermione considered the question. "That's what I assumed… I suppose she might be my aunt or something…"

They looked at each other. If she was related to Harry, she didn't really look like it…

After another five minutes, he walked out, tossing the locket behind him.

Now that he was out of the Ravenclaw Common Room, he decided it was time to head back, and go to bed. It had been a very eventful day, after all.

As Harry walked through the dimly lit maze that was Hogwarts at night, he found himself pondering Hermione's relation to him.

It was clear that she was, somewhat, related to him somehow, given that the locket left by her parents clearly showed the Potter house of arms.

The question was, how?

It was clear to Harry that the person in the picture was Hermione's mother, but that opened another can of worms by itself,

Was she blood related to Harry?

Had she married into the Potter line?

If so, was Hermione's real name Hermione Potter?

And how were Hermione's parents related to him in the first place?

He knew all his aunts and uncles, didn't he?

She couldn't exactly be his grandmother…

…unless she wasn't Hermione's mother at all, but her grandmother!

For all he knew, the picture could be a hundred and one years ago.

Harry was still deep in thought when he nearly walked right into Filch.

He quickly hid behind a nearby suit of armour, immeasurably grateful that Filch was looking out of the window.

A mouse creaked on a floorboard nearby, and Filch nearly jumped out of his skin, whizzing around.

He stormed off, muttering something about magic and a payrise and wanting to make children illegal.

Harry let out a breath and gingerly made his way out of the hallway.

After a close call with Peeves, where he used much the same strategy, Harry realised that if he went slowly through the rooms which had things and more quickly through the uncrowded room, He could avoid any close calls.

The thing Harry found most intriguing as he explored the castle was the sheer variety of rooms. There were several abandoned classrooms. A potions one, a transfiguration one, even one for Divination.

He came across dusty volumes, cobwebby suits of armour, and something unsettlingly similar in shape to a human skull…

After wandering aimlessly for about half an hour, Harry found himself at the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room.

He breathed in, and whispered the password.