Chapter 9

The days following the family meeting at Grimmauld Place developed a satisfying routine. Each morning, Harry had breakfast with Charlus and Dorea around 5 am, and then they would spend the next three to five hours training in magical or physical endurance. The rest of the day would usually be spent discussing magical theory or their family history.

The nights had their moments of torment, and the youngest Potter could definitely tell Dorea wanted to question him on it, but so far she had remained silent. Harry was grateful for this. He was not ready to talk about the horrific things he had seen in his nightmares. Nor the terrible images his mind had created at the thought of what the Death Eaters had done to Hogwarts after his death. As the days passed, Harry was certain he had seen or imagined the death of every single person he cared about in his old world. He was unsure if there was any reality to it, but whatever it was, it was horrific.

If not for the past that haunted the young man at every turn he would be feeling some semblance of happiness. Each day he spent with his new family seemed like a blessing. Charlus and Dorea seemed to smile a little easier as time went on, and it was clear that the two were beginning to let their guard down around him, leaving something near-absolute trust between the trio.

Some of the best fun he had during training was the start of his process of becoming an animagus. Charlus himself didn't have a form, but he went through the long and frustrating process of trying to become one only to find out it was a waste of time. Dorea was a black wolf that was more similar to Sirius than Harry would have cared to remember, but he found the process immensely interesting.

It took two weeks before something interrupted their routine, but now that August was already halfway over Fleamont Potter had decided it was time for James and Harry to meet. Apparently, James had hardly been around this summer as he had been taking turns spending time with the Marauders and his other friends from the Quidditch Team. His parents had hardly had time to sit him down, and explain that a new Potter had arrived in town. Harry was okay with this, because he really wanted to make sure he was acclimated to the new time period, and didn't slip up around his father or possibly even his Godfather.

Harry wasn't quite sure how the notorious pranksters would react to his presence just yet, but he was determined to make the best of it, and get to know his father as best he could. He had to keep reminding himself that the James Potter he was going to meet the coming evening was not the Auror, or the father who had died to protect his son and wife, but a school-aged boy who had never known hardship in his life. This young man was also a bit of a bully towards Slytherins and possibly a reason so many joined the Dark Lord. If there was something Harry could do to curb that in this world then he would.

When the clock struck 7:00 pm the floo network came to life and out came James Potter. The young man was wearing large circular glasses similar to those Harry had worn his whole life, his dark hair was pushed up and messy, while his hazel eyes were clearly looking around for something familiar. Charlus who had been standing next to Harry came forward with open arms, "Hello, nephew. It has been a long time. You've grown into a strapping young man."

James came forward with a laugh and a smile, "Uncle Charlus! I can't believe you kept a secret this big from the family, and never hinted at the fact that I had another cousin. This is like the coolest news-"

Suddenly James' eyes connected with his, and his jaw dropped, "Merlin…"

The next to come out of the floo was a young Sirius Black. Harry's heart dropped at the sight of the boy. He looked so young, healthy, and carefree. He could hardly even see the resemblance to the escaped Azkaban prisoner he would meet over fifteen years later. His long black hair was pushed back, and he hadn't a single bit of facial hair on his smooth face. His face was chiseled to show the young man was an athlete, and his smile was near infectious, "Where is this extra Potter? I need to welcome him to-"

Sirius' eyes fell on Harry who immediately went silent, and stared at the young man with his mouth opening and closing at a slow pace clearly searching for words. Fleamont and Euphemia came through the floo next, and they merely watched in amusement, greeting their brother and sister-in-law quietly as three boys all just stared at each other.

The lump in Harry's throat was immense, and he was quickly becoming uncomfortable so decided to speak, "Padfoot, Prongs, I've been hearing stories for years, but it's nice to finally meet you two."

Sirius turned to Fleamont, "Oi, how does he know about our Marauder names."

Harry felt his eye twitch realizing he had slipped right out of the gate, but Charlus covered him, "Just because I am not around all the time does not mean I don't keep tabs on my nephews. Animagus at 15 is quite an accomplishment. Harry is working on his transformation now. If I had known our family was going to develop the affinity to master it so young I would've had him working on it years ago."

James looked sympathetically at the boy, "Got the Mandrake leaf in then?"

Harry nodded, holding his tongue out to display the leaf, "Nasty thing, and doesn't quite have the same effect as my tripledent gum, and I've nearly swallowed it a dozen times, but maybe I can be something cool, and make it worth it."

Sirius shook his head, "Is no one going to address the elephant in the room?"

Dorea asked, "What elephant, Siri dear?"

The boy looked at his aunt coldly when she used his childhood nickname, "Harry and James could be twins! I know all you Potter's have lots of common traits, but this looks insane."

James nodded his head looking the boy over, "Those eyes though. Where did he get those from? No one in our family has green eyes..."

Charlus laughed, "If every magical test hasn't proved this was my son I would think something similar, James, but muggle genetics tells us that while it becomes less and less likely through the years that you will inherit an eye color outside of your parent's it does happen from time to time. Harry might have pulled the eye color from Slytherin himself for all we know."

Sirius mumbled, "Great, another snake in the family."

Shaking his head Harry cheekily replied with, "No, most likely a Ravenclaw. I have spent most of my spare time buried in books, and studying while I was in America. I think I would make a fair Gryffindor, but I am not sure."

Dorea added in, "Speaking of the houses I received a letter from one of my nieces about visiting Potter Manor for tea. Andromeda seems quite interested in getting to know you, Harry."

Harry's jaw dropped, and so did Sirius' and James', and Harry asked, "What makes you think her interest was in me?"

The woman put a hand on her face as if she was trying to look thoughtful, "Well, none of my nieces have reached out to me in two decades, and I haven't had any of them visit me here at Potter Manor so I suspect my handsome son is most likely the reason for her sudden interest."

Harry's jaw remained open, and was now blushing solidly, while the two Marauder boys laughed at his shyness. Sirius shook his head, "The Potter looks strike again. James, you will have a hell of a wingman with you for our last year. You might finally slip past the Evans aloofness."

Finally snapping out of it and shaking his head Harry glared at Dorea for dropping that information on him while the boys were around. They had yet to hear the stories of Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks. Harry admitted that he was curious about what the woman might have been like as a young lady. She proved to be tough as nails as an adult, and would make a potentially useful ally in Slytherin house, but hopefully she wasn't too interested. He liked Ted Tonks after all, and would like to see Nymphadora be born in the future. The colorful Metamorphagus was something the world would need one day, and Harry had always enjoyed the girl's company.

Shaking the thoughts away from the Andromeda Black he finally offered his hand to James, "Well, ignoring my mother it is nice to finally meet you. I have heard all the stories of the Marauders, and the trouble you two get up to."

They shook hands and locked eyes while James grinned, "Well, we know nothing about you, so why don't we leave the adults to their boring politicking and go see what you can do on a broomstick."

Harry felt his heart leap at the idea knowing it had been a fantasy to one day play with James ever since he first found out about his father's Quidditch abilities. Charlus shook his head with a grin, "If witches and wizards were judged by their ability to fly on a broom, nephew, I do believe they would crown you King."

James kept the devil may care grin on his face, but Sirius asked, "What do you say, other Potter, are you game?"

Realizing Harry had no broom he sighed, "My broom was destroyed in my last Quidditch game at Ilvermorny. Believe me, I would love to play."

Harry had not flown on a broom since the Slytherin match in his sixth year. He had been in detention with Snape for the other two games, and had missed flying constantly. James, however, laughed as he threw an arm around Harry making the boy's heart sore, "You have spent too much time away from Potter Manor my handsome devil of a twin cousin, we have tons of old spare brooms in the shed down by the fields. We can all use one to make it fair."

This made Harry grin now happily, "You're on then, Prongs. I will have you know I was the best player in my school. Only lost one match because of a lightning strike."

James grinned, "We want you in Gryffindor for sure then. I am, of course, the star chaser, while Sirius is a beater. We lost our 7th-year Seeker last year though so we will be doing tryouts. You can come to me, your cousin, the Quidditch captain, to inquire about a spot."

Harry laughed, "I will have to judge if you two are any good first. I only play quidditch to win!"

This made the two Gryffindor boys chuckle, and the parents behind them were shaking their heads with exasperation as the trio made their way out towards the Potter Manor grounds. As they were walking James posed the question that Harry had dreaded, "So, what's really your deal? Why did Uncle Charlus and Aunt Dorea really keep you from the Blacks and me?"

"I don't know how to say this modestly." Harry said honestly, "But I am somewhat of a magical anomaly. I'm sure your parents might have mentioned, but I-"

"They said you are special. What does that mean? Sirius and I were both animagi at 15, and that is pretty special, but when I mentioned that they only smiled at me like I had no idea." James said with a hint of frustration in his voice.

Sirius chimed in to tone it back, "Look, mate, we get that you are family, but what we don't get is why you were some great secret, and why they waited this long to tell us. It just doesn't add up. Even with you not being a born Black you are still big news. The fact that you were hidden from the family tapestry is a feat of magic most of my family thought impossible. So we have to know, what gives?"

The trio never stopped walking towards the field, and Harry was in deep thought as to how he would answer their question. When the two stopped, Harry took a deep breath before saying, "Look, both of you are family, and I want to be honest with you guys, but the reason I was hidden away goes a lot deeper than what you've been told as you have already guessed. I can't tell you much, and what I do tell you I expect to never be repeated. Not to your closest friends, not to your girlfriends, and certainly not to anyone outside of the Potter Family in general. Give me your word."

Sirius and James looked at the boy in front of them, and his green eyes seemed to pierce through both of them. Sirius whistled lowly, "Well, Prongs, it seems we have found your more serious alter ego."

James grinned at the pun, but nodded, "Yeah, Padfoot, I think I see that too. Still, I give you my word."

Sirius nodded, "Me too. Mostly because I hate not knowing."

"There was a prophecy made when I was born. It basically guaranteed that I would have a major role to play in a big fight. That's all I can say without putting myself, and you two, in danger." Mounting his broomstick Harry looked at their dumbstruck faces with a grin, "I have heard a lot about the infamous Potter abilities on a broom, and I have long looked forward to putting them to the test. Are we going to talk doom and gloom, or are we going to fly?"

James looked at his cousin with wonder, but in the end shook his head, "You aren't what I expected you know. I should've guessed you would've gotten the more serious side of our family traits considering who your parents are. I want to know more about all this, but for now, I will drop it. Let's fly."

It had long been Harry's dream to fly with his father, and he had to admit right away it was not a disappointment. Even at sixteen James Potter was a talent on a broomstick. Sirius wasn't bad, and he could definitely have competed with the best back in his Hogwarts days, but like Harry himself, James was in a different league.

Harry knew his father held the all-time scoring record at Hogwarts back in his own time. Hermione had noticed the record in their first year in the trophy case. Harry would often look at it over the years after his matches, because he came from one of the greats.

Watching James smoothly execute flying maneuvers told Harry a lot though. One was he flew like Krum, who had admitted to Harry that he had received professional lessons since he was a young lad. James had undoubtedly had the same. The Potter's of course were not poor, so if that was his father's hobby as a child he had no doubt his grandparents had been all too happy to provide him with a coach. It was a question Harry would pose later as he focused on trying to keep up with father racing around, and doing death-defying stunts as he did.

He wasn't sure how long they were out there together, or when Charlus and the others had come out to watch, but he quickly realized no amount of time would ever have been enough. When they landed James looked winded, but exhilarated, and Sirius had long ago stopped to just watch the two Potters. James grinned at the boy, "You are the best I have ever flown with that wasn't a pro. Definitely, the Potter genes, if there was any doubt it's gone now."

Harry grinned, "I have to say the same about you. I flew with a player from Bulgaria once, and he had been raised by pros. I can tell the same about you. Private coaches?"

"Since I was seven!" James said proudly.

"You will make a hell of a player when you graduate." Harry said honestly.

"We should go into the draft as a pair. Make a killing. You're a seeker right?"

"How'd you know?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's the style you fly in. Fancy, smooth, and not as aggressive as the style of a chaser like me. I better start figuring out how to bewitch the hat to make sure you end up in Gryffindor. It will be a nightmare having to score 150 points more than the other houses to beat you." James said with a grin throwing his arm around the boy, "But if you do, I look forward to the challenge. We have to train together a few more times before summer is over, but at the property, in Sussex, Dad built me some rings in the field back there so we could play on a half-sized field for training."

"I'd love to." Harry said honestly.

"It will have to be after training one day, Harry." Charlus said from behind, "That was some damn impressive flying boys. We could be looking at the future of the English National Team with talent like that."

Harry swallowed hard at that just imagining the possibilities. In 1994 his dad would be 34, and at the prime of his quidditch career. In a different life, they really could play in their own backyard for a Quidditch World Cup. Maybe one day...when the fight was over. The possibilities made him choke a little, but thankfully James grasped onto a different nugget of information, "Training? What kind of training?"

Dorea put a hand on the back of Harry's neck pulling him gently closer to her, "Harry trains with us every morning, and part of the afternoon on magical battle tactics. He used to train with tutors overseas, but now that he is back home we have been putting him through our paces."

James frowned, "Why do you guys do that? I didn't know you and Uncle Charlus still trained in magical combat. My dad told me you guys did during the war, but after…"

Charlus smiled at his nephew, "An American told me in the great war, that a gallon of sweat saves a pint of blood. Harry has taken that expression to heart. He trains diligently as you boys may get to see at school in the dueling club, or if someone decides to see where he sits on the pecking order. Personally, I am looking forward to getting those letters from Hogwarts."

By the time Charlus was done talking he was grinning at his pseudo-son, while Sirius and James looked at him slightly warily, "They told you I was special. Let me just give you one demonstration, and maybe you will understand."

Harry wasn't sure what made him do it, but he cast his Patronus with barely a whisper, and a stag erupted to his side making Sirius stumble backward, and James to stare in wonder. The rest of the family all watched the two teens as James looked from the stag to Harry with no comprehension, "I don't understand...it's me?"

Harry grinned at the teenager, "While you didn't know of me, James, I have known of you since we were boys. I heard stories about you, and hoped to one day meet the person I heard all the stories about. I didn't know what the Patronus meant, until we found out that you had completed your animagus transformation. Magic has a strange way of always knowing, and I had waited for the opportunity to just fly with you for a long time now…" James continued to stare at the creature, while Charlus gave him a warning look that said he may have spoken too much so he spluttered a bit, "And now we get to go to Hogwarts together. One final year of memories right? I admit I am really excited."

"I have to admit that is a really cool piece of magic." James said with an impressed look on his face, "Can you teach me?"

"Me too! How does it decide what animal it takes?" Sirius asked excitedly.

Harry shrugged, "No one really knows. They say it reflects a part of you. From what I understand a lot of animagi reflect themselves, so it's possible I am also a stag. We will find out in a few more weeks hopefully!"

James grinned, "That would be sweet. I can just imagine all the pranks we are going to pull on everyone this year with you at our side."

Charlus butted in immediately, "Now, James, my son is the responsible one of your age group. Don't lead him too far astray."

Fleamont chimed in, "And you will be Head Boy so we have that to consider as well."

James' grin only grew completely disregarding his father's words, "But a little astray is okay?"

"Well...he is a Potter after all." Charlus said with a wink, and James, Fleamont, and Harry all laughed while the others merely shook their heads.

What little was left of the day was spent talking about the upcoming year at Hogwarts, and the adventures the trio would get up to when they arrived. By the end of it all, Harry laid his head on his pillow that night with a big smile. It was the first time since his arrival that he felt it was all truly worth it.

.o.

Sitting in his room at Godric's Hollow James paced around while Sirius watched him with a worried expression. They'd had a surprisingly fun evening with the new mysterious Potter, but James was bursting at the seams with questions, "Why do you think they really kept Harry a secret?"

Sirius frowned at the question thinking for a long moment. This was much too serious for his own liking, "I don't know, Prongs, but if I was gambling man I would say it has to do with that prophecy. I think Harry gave us a glimpse of something big. I bet his folks wouldn't be too happy with how much he shared, if the way he was looking over his shoulder was any indication."

"I just don't understand why they wouldn't tell me!" James said, his annoyance showing, "Keep secrets from the rest of the world, and I couldn't care less. I more than likely would've turned the thing into a massive prank when it was time for him to come out of isolation. Instead I have to wonder what other massive secrets my family is keeping from me."

"It could be worse, mate." Sirius consoled, "At least Harry is cool. With his Animagus training we could even make him a Marauder. Merlin only knows what a secret family member of mine might be like. They would probably be plotting the death of every member in our house 'til they could become Lord Black. Slimy gits."

James took a deep breath as he considered his honorary brother's words. Harry did seem cool. Maybe they did keep it a secret for his protection, "Do you think someone is after him?"

Sirius shook his head, "Between the prophecy and the secrets I wouldn't doubt it. Harry said he had a role to play in a big fight. Well a fight requires at least two parties and there could be more. If someone found out that Harry might be destined to beat them, or kill them, then I would say he is in danger. If it wasn't something major like that, why hide him?"

Stopping in his tracks, James stared at Sirius for a long moment, "I hadn't considered that."

"It's a lot to take in." Sirius said sympathetically.

"I want to get to know him better. He is family. Outside of my parents and the Marauders I haven't had a lot of that…" James said, trailing off to look out his window in wonder at the possibilities of what could follow.

"We will all look out for him. Let's just hope he doesn't end up in Slytherin! I imagine that could make it difficult to get to know him better." Sirius exclaimed.

Nodding in acceptance James shook his head of any further thoughts on his new cousins, "Well he is definitely a hell of a flier!"

(A/N) A reunion that Harry waited for his whole life finally happened. We are inching closer towards the arrival at Hogwarts, and I can't wait for you all to meet my original character who is the pairing for this story! If you want to meet this character today you can join me on Discord and read up to Chapter 12, with 13 dropping next Tuesday putting Discord 4 chapters ahead. If you want to really advance the story you can follow me on pat(reon) and go all the way through chapter 17. Just follow me OrionB15 and enjoy the Potter's rise to prominence! Cheers everyone and I will see you all in two weeks.

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