SECOND CHANCES

Harry was removed from the Dursley's 'care', and placed into foster care when he was seven. A year later, he was adopted. Now he's turning eleven, and his Hogwarts letter has arrived. Will his new family accept his magical heritage?

In this story I will be alternating the between the Present and Past.

Story Info.

CHARACTERS

Name: Daleen MacDougall (Harry's adopted Mother).

Age: 32-36.

Hair Colour: Sandy blonde.

Eye Colour: Grey.

Personality: Kind, caring, gentle, generous, compassionate.

xx

Name: Atticus MacDougall (Harry's adopted Father).

Age: 35-39.

Hair Colour: Auburn.

Eye Colour: Blue.

Personality: Patient, humourous, considerate, kind, warm-hearted.

xx

Name: Peter MacDougall (Harry's adopted Brother)

Age: 5-9.

Hair Colour: Dark blonde.

Eye Colour: Dark Blue.

Personality: Kind, caring, gentle, stubborn, patient, cautious.

History: After he lost his Parents on an Car Crash we he was 5 years old. He was sent to the Orphanage, and went to 3 different Foster families before making his way to the MacDougalls family. After 3 different Foster Families only took him in for the money, he became Stubborn and cautious, but still had his kind nature. He had been wanting a family that loved him. He can't remember his real Mother and Father but he knows that they have gone to a better place.

xx

Name: Claire May Denning (Harry's Foster Sister)

Age: 6-7.

Hair Colour: Platinum Blonde.

Eye Colour: Green.

Personality: Shy, withdrawn, creative, intelligent, scared.

History: she was removed from her family after a neighbor suspected she was being beaten; her father was an abusive alcoholic, and her mother was suffering from severe anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies.

xx

Name: Danny Lewis.

Age: 8-12.

Hair Colour: Red.

Eye Colour: Light blue.

Personality: Joking, excitable, incorrigible, trouble maker, dare devil

xx

Name: Joseph Lewis

Age: 34-38.

Hair Colour: Red.

Eye Colour: Light Blue.

Personality: Smart, caring, Head strong, Patient, Kind, Hard worker.

xx

Name: Mary Lewis.

Age: 34-38.

Hair Colour: Light Brown.

Eye Colour: Blue/Green

Personality: Stern but kind, serious, caring, dry humour, strong willed, determined.

xx

Name: Jamie Hector (James is kind of named after him)

Age: 33-37 (two ages remember for the past and present times)

Hair Colour: Black.

Eye Colour: Golden brown.

Personality: reckless, joking, adventurous, hothead.

xx

Name: Annabel Hector

Hair Colour: Ginger Red.

Eye Colour: Grass Green.

Personality: caring, joking, fussy, cool-headed.

xx

Name: James Hector.

Age: 7-11.

Hair Colour: Black.

Eye Colour: Black.

Personality: Serious, kind, stubborn, warm-hearted, smart.

PROLOGUE - Part One - What A Wonderful Life (Present)

The large, victorian era house, at 4 Herbert Road, stood out from the other houses on the street; although old, it was immaculately well kept, and gave off a feeling of classic elegance.

The front yard was lined with large, flowering roses; there were vibrant reds, flaming oranges, sunny yellows, pinks varying in colours, from light peach to fuchsia, blues and purples, and pure whites. Fruit trees grew along the fence in the back yard, and nestled in the heart of an old willow, growing in the middle of the lush, emerald green lawn, was a large tree house; built in a two story spiral around the willow, with a rope ladder trailing to the ground.

Daleen and Atticus MacDougall were exactly the kind of people you would expect to live in such a house; not because they were rich, or posh. But because they were the most kind, generous, loving people you would ever meet; and only someone as kind, generous and loving as Daleen and Atticus deserved to live a house with the regal quality as theirs.

Daleen MacDougall was a well loved primary school teacher, she was thin, with long sandy blonde hair, kind grey eyes, and a radiant smile that almost never left her face. While Atticus MacDougall was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, in the Prime Minister's Cabinet; he was a tall man, with broad, wide shoulders, short auburn hair, and startling blue eyes. As busy as the MacDougall's were, they had another important, noteworthy achievement; they were foster parents. The walls inside their house, were covered in framed photos of all the children they had ever taken in. However, two boys featured more than any others; a dark blonde haired boy, with even darker blue eyes, and a slightly older black haired boy with bright green eyes. In the newest of the photos - which had been taken the year before - these two boys looked around eight and ten years old. In all the photos, both boys were smiling happily; they were Peter MacDougall, and Harry Potter-MacDougall, Daleen and Atticus' adopted sons.

Up in his bedroom, Harry swung down from his bunk-bed; not even bothering with the ladder. he landed with a soft thump on his race car track carpet, and smiled as he stared around the room that was his; from the bunk-bed study loft, to the floor to ceiling bookshelf, and comfy reading chair against the far wall, to his treasure chest toy box, pushed up against the wall near the door. It was his, all his!

There were times he still couldn't believe how good his life was now, considering what his life had been before. Shaking his head, Harry closed his eyes, he was not going to think about that today.

Today was a very important day, for Harry; it was his eleventh Birthday! Now for most children, birthdays are very important; but for Harry, they were even more so - because although he was eleven today, this was only the fourth time his Birthday was celebrated.

Grinning, Harry walked to his wardrobe; quickly pulling on a pair of dark blue jeans and a red shirt, with a yellow smiley face on the front. He ran across the the room to his door, yanked it open_

And found Peter and Claire blocking his path.

"You can't come down," Peter said, his eyes darting towards the stairs. "Mum and Dad are getting everything ready."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ok, can I come out into the hall?"

"No!" Claire shook her head, pushing him back as he took a step out of his room. "Atti and Dal said you can' come out!"

"Ok, I won't move." Harry said, laughing as he reached out and tickled her; his face splitting into a grin she squealed and giggled.

"Peter, Claire, come down here, please..."

Harry smiled as his Mum's voice, carried up the stairs.

"... Harry, you stay up there!"

He and burst out laughing, shaking his head as Claire and Peter ran down the hall, disappearing down the stairs. Stepping out of his bedroom, Harry closed the door, walked to the stairs, and waited; chuckling as he heard his parents speaking in hushed voices so he couldn't hear.

A moment later, his Dad's voice called up to him. "Ok, Harry, come on down!"

He couldn't help smiling as he walked down the stairs, closing his eyes as he reached halfway, Harry put a hand on the railing as a guide. As he reached the bottom step, he felt a hand grip his arm.

"Keep you eyes closed," Atticus said, gently leading Harry forward. "And no peeking."

Snorting, Harry put on a mock outraged tone, as he placed his free hand on his hip, "I resent that."

Chuckling, Atticus ruffled Harry, hair, pulling him into a hug. "Well, I can't risk you spoiling the surprise, can I?"

"You say that every year," Harry said, his stomach growling as the tantalising smell of bacon and pancakes filled his nose.

"And I'm right, every year." Atticus countered, leading Harry into the Dining room, he grinned at the small group, standing in front of the table; it had been hard to hide the invitations from Harry, but getting James and Danny here without Harry knowing, was definitely worth it. "Ok, here we go..." Positioning harry under the fan, Atticus moved to stand with the others. "... You can open your eyes Harry."

The second he opened his eyes, the sound of eight people shouting "SURPRISE!" filled his ears, he was grinning as he stared around the living room, his eyes wide with joy; Red and white streamers hung from the walls and ceiling, blue and red helium balloons were tied in bunches around the room, his eyes went even wider when he saw the dining table, set up for breakfast - bacon, scrambled eggs, poached eggs, toast, pancakes with strawberries and cream on the side...

"Can I do it now?"

Harry's gaze flicked to Claire, and he frowned when he saw her standing by the fan controls.

"Go for it!" Peter and Daleen spoke at exactly the same time, and harry watched as Claire turned the fan on_

Multicoloured confetti flew off the fan blades, and Harry found himself laughing, raising his arms above his head, as he tried to catch the tiny pieces of falling paper.

James and Danny whooped as they charged forward, almost tackling Harry to the ground as they hugged him.

"You should have seen our face!" James laughed, his black eyes gleaming mischievously.

"We surprised you this time, didn't we?!" Danny exclaimed, his face split in a wide grin.

"I think we should sit down, so Harry can get breakfast started."

Harry looked over to James' father and smiled, "Good morning, Mr Hector."

Jamie smiled, striding forward to hug his son's best friend, "Happy Birthday Harry."

x

Harry licked his lips as he sat at the table, his Mother had made all his favourites; he didn't know where to start.

Peter snorted, rolling his eyes as he stabbed several slices of bacon with his fork. "Here, why don't you start with this?" He said, grinning as he dropped the bacon onto Harry's plate.

Harry grinned back, about to thank his brother, when Danny put three pancakes onto his plate, sticking his tongue out at him, as he spooned a huge dollop of cream over them.

"Well if we're being fancy..." Daleen smiled at Harry, topping the dream with five, bright red strawberries.

Laughing at his family, Harry shook his head. He looked at his Mother and smiled, "thank you Mum, everything looks great."

"You're welcome," Daleen smiled, reaching across the table to brush a lock of hair out of his face. "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart."

"Now, eat!" James begged; his own plate piled high with scrambled eggs and bacon.

Grinning at his friend, Harry made a show of stabbing a piece of bacon with his fork, his eyes were locked on James' as he slowly brought the bacon to his lips; his eyes closed and he moaned at the wonderful, salty, greasy taste. As everyone else started eating, harry couldn't help thinking that this was the best birthday ever; and it had only just begun.

xx

"Ok, it's time for presents." Daleen put an arm around Harry's shoulders, turning him towards the living room, and laughing when Harry's eyes widened again.

the coffee table set up with a large bowl filled with mixed chocolates and lollies, plates of cupcakes and biscuits, with brightly wrapped presents piled underneath.

Claire darted around Harry, pulling badly wrapped, pink present out of the pile. "Mine first, mine first!" She squealed, almost tripping over her feet in her haste to bring her present to him.

Harry took the offered present, sitting on the cream coloured, suede leather couch. "Did you wrap this yourself?"

"Uh huh," Claire nodded eagerly, bouncing on her toes in excitement as she watched harry unwrapped her present.

It was a medium sized, white teddy bear, with a red bow tied around it's neck. "Thank you, Claire." Harry said, smiling as he hugged her.

Peter was next, he shrugged as he silently handed his present over; it was large, rectangular, and wrapped in black paper, with yellow stars. Grinning, Harry pretended to look thoughtful. "Is it... a book?" He asked, ripping the paper off, and choking on a laugh as another layer of paper was revealed; he ripped through two more layers of the wrapping paper before he finally 'found' his present. It was a book, he lifted it, gasping as he turned it over to see the front cover; it was a first edition of The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, his favourite book. His eyes were wide as he stood, pulling Peter into a hug. "I don't know how you managed it, but thank you."

"Dad helped," Peter said, grinning as he hugged Harry back. "I knew you like it."

Shaking his head, Harry returned his brother's grin, "I love it."

The rest of the presents were unwrapped in record time; he got a leather bound journal from his Dad, a DIY book for Kids from Danny, Battleships from James, a cook book from Danny's parents, a wrist watch from James' parents, and a set of paints, 2 canvases, and an easel (all wrapped in one) from his Mum.

Harry was surrounded by paper, by the time he was done.

He'd only just set his paints aside, when Atticus appeared, carrying his cake; Harry had been so intent on unwrapping his presents, that he hadn't seen his Dad leave. His eye were wide as he saw the cake; a double layered chocolate cake, with chocolate cream in the middle, chocolate icing, with maltesers around the edges, and smarties on top spelling out 'Happy Birthday Harry'.

xx

Harry sat on the couch, between his Mum and Dad. Danny and James had left a couple of hours ago, and Peter and Claire were playing outside, in the tree house. Harry smiled at his parents, "I think today was the best Birthday so far."

Atticus grinned at him, "I guess we'll have to try really hard to beat it next year, won't we?"

Chuckling, Harry closed his eyes, leaning into his parent's embrace. "I was thinking about Dudley today," he said quietly, "He always got over twenty presents from Aunt Petunia and... Uncle Vernon..." He felt his Mum and Dad stiffen, "... I couldn't think of a single reason why anyone could need, or want, that many presents."

He looked at his parents and smiled, "I'm so glad you found me."

Atticus hugged Harry closer, "so are we."

Daleen kissed Harry's cheek. "We love you so much."

"I love you too," Harry said, they had given him the one thing he had always wanted; a loving family.

Harry closing his eyes as he snuggled closer to his parents_

Knock... Knock... Knock...

Harry's eyes flew open, at the sound of someone knocking at the door.