Inside a cottage, on the outside of Merlin's Court, lived a happy family. This particular family was enjoying the winter holidays by staying home and decorating cookies. Standing in the kitchen of the cottage was James Remus Potter, dark unruly hair, green eyes that matched his mothers, and a piping hot plate of cookies held in his hands, as he made his way to the table. Sitting down at the table was the daughter of James, Annabell Lily Potter, who was ever so carefully icing the cookies to make different Christmas icons. Behind the happy pair, hanging on the wall, were sets of pictures, filled with smiling faces and each picture moved ever so slightly to show that each picture was enchanted.

"Well, I think that's enough cookies for tonight, better leave some for when mom gets home. Would you look at the time!" James set down the spreading knife, checking his watch, and began moving towards his daughter, picking her up and tossing her in the air.

"Dad, put me down, and I'm not tired at all" Annabell went back to her seat and started working on another cookie, carefully reaching across the table for the different tubs of colored frosting.

"Well it's bedtime Missy and we don't need any wild animals crawling around any later than it is" James pulled the chair Annabell was sitting in back from the table and started to carry her towards her bedroom. As James carried the chair down the hallway, he began to bounce the chair and started to sing a song "The great marching chair, carried the princess, to her room, and placed her upon her bed then danced a funny dance. A boom, boom, boom".

The inside of Annabell's room was dressed in bright crimson red and gold with posters of The Bandit Princess and Spongebob.

"Do I get a story tonight?" Annabell tucked herself into her bed, which was covered in stuffed animals ranging from magical beasts to a regular cat.

"Well, I think we've finished tales of Beedle the Bard, what about Snow White or Cinderella?" James walked over to a bookshelf in the corner of the bedroom and perused the selection sitting upon the shelves.

"I want to hear a story from you, nothing from a book" James turned away from the bookshelf and looked at his daughter with a questioning look.

"Oh, a story by me, or a story about me?" "About you!" Annabell was now sitting upright in her bed, giving her father her full attention.

"Well, are we doing a comedy, romance, action/adventure, scary, or a long boring story to put you to sleep?" James pulled out his wand and conjured a chair right behind him, then sat down, crossing his legs in a matter of getting comfortable. His glasses started to slide down the bridge of his nose but before they could get below an inch the glasses shot back up and straightened themselves.

"All the above and make it about Hogwarts" "Hogwarts!" James shouted.

"Yeah, I wanna know more before I go next year" Annabell's face was now covered from ear to ear in a great big smile. Her eyes reflected her fathers, emerald green, the same color as the snakes he would see every year hanging from the Slytherin banners.

"It just so happens that I have a story that fits your requirements. It's long, it's scary, but most importantly it's about two brothers and their love for one another that saved the wizarding world" James put his wand beside him on a dresser and he started to move his hands as he talked, producing sparks from his fingertips.

"So our story starts long ago, back on your Uncle Harry's and I's first birthday…"

Potter Cottage, Grodics' Hollow

July 31st, 2000

9:20 P.M.

The summer sun was resting on the horizon, tucking itself away for the day. Out in the yard of the Potter Cottage sat broomsticks, left laying about, and common household objects that seemed to be left to rot. Past the front door, inside the cottage, there was currently a party going on, celebrating the turning of a year for the twin Potter boys.

Harry James Potter wore striped pajamas, colored with crimson and gold, and was currently smashing his fist into the piece of birthday cake that was scattered all over the table. James Remus Potter wore solid red pajamas and was currently sitting quietly to himself, staring at the piece of birthday cake in front of him with a look of confusion on his face.

"James, James, Prongs!" James Potter's attention was pulled away from the cake covered Harry, catching some frosting from Harry's fist as he turned towards Lily.

"What Honey, Harry is currently pretending to be Sirius after not getting his way" The surrounding crowd began to laugh and a tall shaggy haired man punched James on the shoulder then leaned in close to say something to James, "I'd say he's you after Lily turned you down five times". More laughter followed from Sirius Black's too loud of a whisper.

"Help out Jim, he's not eating" Lily got up from her chair and went down the nearby hallway, entering their bedroom and removing a stack of presents from the closet. The towering stack of gifts floated down the hallway beside Lily till they landed perfectly stacked on the nearby table.

"Here comes the Hippogriff, open up" James was now floating a small piece of cake towards little James' mouth but he didn't seem interested in it. Giving up on the attempt, James started to move towards the pile of presents and began opening them in front of the twins.

Outside The Cottage

Standing in the complete darkness outside on the street, stood a man, or better yet, a monster stood outside the Potter Cottage. This monster had spent too much time in finding the Potters, which made him angry. A nearby street lamp flickered, on and off, seeming to be scared of this monster in the dark. The monster moved like a shadow, not making any sound as it pushed open the front gate and it floated across the lawn to the front door of the cottage. It could hear the people inside enjoying their party, not knowing of their uninvited guest that loomed just outside the door. The door slowly opened, not making any noise and the monster crept inside, readying its wand for a deadly blow. It was finally time for his plan to succeed, no one was going to stop him.

"Learning brooms! Sirius, we've talked about this" James Potter, the arrogant fool, was holding two miniature broomsticks in his hands, staring at his friends with such pitiful glee in his face. Now was his time to strike, this was the moment when no one was expecting it.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green light the entire cottage and James Potter dropped the two broomsticks as his lifeless body dropped to the floor.

"James!" Lily yelled and turned towards the monster, trying to pull her hand from her pocket, but the monster was faster.

"Stupify"

Lily's body then fell to the floor, unconscious, then Sirius rushed forward shooting red sparks from his wand towards the monster but the spells were of no use.

"Crucio"

Sirius Black's went to the ground with a loud shriek of pain and he started to convulse rapidly from the curse. One after the other, each member of the party fell to the ground, either dead or unconscious. The monster finally saw the two babies, sitting down at the table and staring directly at him. The two sets of green eyes didn't have any tears in them but instead showed back the reflection of the monster. The monster started to raise his wand towards the twins, preparing to send the killing blow.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Present Day

"And then what happened Dad?" Annabell was sitting on the edge of her bed, feet dangling above the floor as she eagerly waited on every word.

"And Then, Well, something magical happened and the twins' lives were changed forever. The monster was thought destroyed but when someone came checking on the Potter's, they found the twins missing" Annabell made a shocked noise, quickly taking in air and sitting up even more than she was.

"What happened to them?" James started to smile at the question and sat up in his chair more firmly.

"Well, they were taken, by a mean man," James said.

Houston, Texas, USA

August 1st, 2000

"Didn't have to pay much, the lady wanted to get rid of them, acted like they were cursed" Inside an oversized office sat an oversized man dressed in a tightly fitting suit, which didn't complete the man's oversized figure. The chair the man sat in was in desperate need of replacing, as the suspension could no longer support the man's weight. "I just gave her twenty for each and got the paperwork forged on the plane" Across the office, sitting in a stiff wooden chair was a rather uptight lady, dressed in 50's attire, and wearing high heels that looked brand new.

"Do they have names or do we gotta pull from the book?" The lady's voice could crack glass from the pitch and shear volume.

"They've got names, let's see. Harry James Potter and James Remus Potter" The rather large man approached the two babies, who slept in a nearby fallen apart crib.

"And what about their… disfigurements?" The lady side, now coming to the side of the large man.

Now, as both babies were completely healthy, they both now had one new unique thing about them. Harry now had a lightning bolt scar across his forehead and James' right arm had a long and dark scar tracing the length of his arm.

"The lady said that the doctors say they're alright and everything, so I don't see the point in wasting money for a doctor" The man then walked over to another crib, which was in brand new condition, and picked up the baby inside. "Just put them with the rest of the orphans, I have my own son to take care of, isn't that right Dudley".

The lady then picked the twins and carried them out of the oversized office. The hallways were painted ash gray and were illuminated by flickering, string hanged, lightbulbs. At the end of the hallway were a set of concrete stairs that led down floor after floor. The lady reached the eventual bottom of the staircase, carrying her high heels underneath the twins to save her feet from the walk down the steps, then gave the twins to an elderly lady that looked older than time itself.

"Got two new ones for you, better find room" The surrounding basement was filled with children ranging in age from three to sixteen, each walking by and carrying a basket of laundry with them. The basement was humid, steam floating along the ground providing clouds for the rats, and mold sat in the corners, growing more out of control each and every day.

"We have no room down here, no more work" The elderly lady held the twins with such grace and rocked each back n forth.

"Shove them under the stairs for all I care, it's not my problem" The stuck up lady then turned towards the towering staircase, preparing for the climb back up by rubbing her feet and stretching her legs. The elderly lady then stood up and carried the twins over to a small cupboard under the stairs.

"It's not much for a room but it'll have to do" She put the babies on a torn apart mattress with stains ruining the white color that once brightened the mattress. The twins began to stir, their tiny eyes opening up for the first time in awhile. "Stay asleep babies, no need to wake while it's the afternoon" The old woman started to shush slowly and moved the mattress back and forth, rocking the babies back to sleep.

Present Day

"What about their parent's? Did they look for them?" Annabell, still sitting on the edge of her seat, couldn't help but interrupt her fathers storytelling.

"Well, magic works in mysterious ways sometimes. When young witches and wizards are born, they'll start to show signs of magic from any point in their childhood. It just so happened that some magic kept Harry and I hidden from peoples eyes. So they did search but all they could find was bits of our hair left in a dumpster behind a barbershop. So there we stayed for ten years, working at the orphanage, cleaning up after everyone and sleeping underneath the stairs" As James began retelling the story, he couldn't help but feel like he was right back in Houston, the hot sun beating down on him while doing yard work.

Houston, Texas, USA

July 31, 2010

Dursley's Home for the Unwanted

6:00 A.M.

Standing outside in the hot Texas sun were the two, now grown, twins, Harry and James Potter. Both of the boy's hair were completely uncombed, their clothes were two sizes too big, their glasses were broken in the middle and taped back together with scott tape. The boys were pulling weeds out of the garden, each drenched in sweat this early in the morning.

"I told Oscar yesterday that the dogs will be on them before they can reach the highway. Last year, Jason tried the same thing and ended up in the hospital from the dog bites" James took a clump of weeds over to the compost bag and shoved the weeds inside while Harry and him carried on talking.

"I wouldn't even bother trying anymore, Dudley lives for us escaping. I've heard, he's got brass knuckles hidden somewhere and threatened to use them on Peter last week" Harry bent over and plucked a weed out of the ground, tearing the roots out perfectly to make sure nothing grows back. The boys carried on with their morning de-weeding, when a loud bell began to clang.

"Breakfast time, what do you think it will be, rotten biscuits and gravy or frisbee pancakes?" The boys started to walk towards a giant brick building that blocked out the rising sun and provided shade for the line of kids that were waiting to head inside. James and Harry stood behind a boy with dirty blonde hair and gave a stench that tore through all other stenches.

"Yo man, you reak, get the fuck out of here" A taller boy with light brown hair started to push the stinky boy out of the line, his big hands making a loud thud as they hit the boy's chest.

"I don't reak, I have a glandular issue-" Before the boy could finish speaking, his face was met with the taller boy's fist. Soon the both boys were on the ground, one on top of the other, beating on the other's face repeatedly.

A loud bang was heard and as everyone looked towards the noise, we saw Vernon Dursley standing on the front steps, holding a rifle that he just shot from. "That's quite enough!" The large man bounded his way over to the two boys on the ground and his face bared an evil grin. Vernon looked down at the boys then looked over at James and Harry, "Which one of you too started this!". Vernon's voice was high and enraged, he was clearly looking for any reason to punish James and Harry today.

"Nothing, just standing," Harry answered back with some sass to his voice.

"Enough with the attitude boy, I know that you two instigated this fight somehow, follow me!" Vernon then grabbed the back of James and Harry's neck then dragged them up the front steps and inside the orphanage.

Vernon waddled with the boys down the first floor hallway till they reached an elevator door. Vernon then pressed the up button and the doors opened, sliding roughly against the sides of the elevator. As they stepped inside, both the boys noticed the not so subtle dip in the elevator when Vernon stepped on. He then pressed the last button on the panel that read number twenty-two. The elevator slowly raised its way to the top, clearly struggling to rise as Vernon had pushed this elevator to its limit.

"I'm taking you both to Dudley, he'll deal with you, I've got to watch over breakfast. When he's finished come down for the rest of your chores" The elevator dinged and the doors opened as we reached the top floor, the penthouse. "Dudley, I've got a surprise for you" Around the corner came the wide load of a child, Dudley Dursley. The boy's blonde hair was cut short, his clothes were stretched to the limit as there were no clothes in his size, his shoes were cleaner than his stained yellow teeth, and his hands were both gripped around chocolate glazed donuts.

"Morning beatings!" The boy spoke through a mouthful of donuts and seemed to smile at the grim looks that were on James and Harry's face.

"Make it quick, I need them to do a lot of work today, I'm talking double chores" Vernon pushed the twins down to the ground and turned back around to the elevator to head down for breakfast.

"Hey James, you ever wonder how long it takes the earth to rotate?" Harry started to smirk as he stood up looking towards Vernon.

"I don't know? A day?" James guessed.

"That's weird cause Vernon can do it in thirty seconds and he's twice the size of the earth" As soon as the words left Harry's mouth, a swift punch was delivered to his gut. James stood up to react but was hit in the face by Dudley's fist. The ground started to shake as Vernon made his way back over to Harry and James.

"That just earned you both a week in the pit" Vernon then pulled Harry up by his shirt and slapped the boy across the face, sending his glasses flying across the room. "Any more comments? No?" Harry was gasping for air then Vernon dropped him to the ground. "Throw his brother in with him, I don't want to see their faces" Vernon then turned back towards the elevator once again, each step shaking the ground, conveying his red hot rage.

"Talk about my father like that again and I'll break your legs" Dudley continued with his beating for a good thirty minutes before he started dragging the twins back towards the elevator.

By the time the elevator reached the ground floor, Dudley had made both the boys stand up and pushed them out the elevator then moved them towards the doors leading outside. James' eyes were swollen from being punched in the face multiple times and could hardly see where he was walking. Each step that Harry took sent a shock of pain through his entire body as each leg ached from being stomped on. They went down the front steps and started on a dirt trail that led a mile out to an abandoned baseball field.

Surrounding the field was a torn apart chain linked fence, with so many holes that it couldn't keep out a raccoon. Two dugouts sat on opposite sides of each other but one was covered with blue traps that were tied down with yellow rope cord. As they approached the covered dugout, Dudley started to move in front of the twins to move aside part of the fence that blocked in the dugout.

"One week, I hope you make it, maybe I can talk Dad into another week if I wake up sore tomorrow" Dudley then pushed on the back of each boy as they walked into the so-called pit. He then moved the fence back into place then moved a dumpster in front of the fence to keep the boys trapped inside.

Inside the covered dugout lay a pile of blood soaked blankets and in a corner sat a rusted bucket that no one would want to go near. Small holes let light peer through into the dark and musty dugout, James found a clean spot on the ground and sat down, putting his face into his hands.

"You had to say something, couldn't keep quiet and now where here" James' voice didn't sound mad or angry but just disappointed. "We've talked about this Harry, time and time again you speak back and we both get into trouble".

"I didn't even start this, Vernon just blamed us for that damn fight. I hate it here, it fuckin sucks, my life sucks!" Harry kicked the wall and then fell to the ground in pain. "I wish we could just run away" Harry then curled up into a ball and started to cry. "Ha..Happy Birthday… to us, Happy Birthday…to..us, Happy Fuckin Birthday, dear us, Happy birthday to us".

Present Day

"That's awful!" Tears filled Annabell's eyes but she wiped them away before they could roll down her cheek.

"Yes, but at least we had each other. Anyways, the week in the pit went by slowly, each day was hotter than the last and the lack of food and water made us delusional. We started to hear owl hoots throughout the night, which kept us from sleeping, then they continued throughout the day, all day long" James cleared his throat, hiding some of the pain that has been hidden away for years.

"Were there really owls outside?" Annabell asked.

"Yeah there were owls, more than you could possibly think"