Chapter 1: The Potters

My Name is James Christopher Potter, I'm 35 and I live in Pendleton, IN.

When we moved here my wife, Lily Elizabeth Evans Potter had fallen in love with this small town, we had the perfect life.

Perfect…………..

Almost perfect………….

As I look at my wife and daughter, Ashley Lilith Potter, I think that something is missing or someone. My son Harry James Potter went missing when he was only a year old, I still remember when it happened! It was a living nightmare.

Flashback

"Lily we've got to go!" I yelled.

"I won't leave Harry!" She trilled.

"Lil he'll be fine John and Katy are here for him if he needs something, ok?"

John smiled at her he looked like my twin (they had enough Polyjuice potion to last them four hours and an adequate supply of mine and Lily's hair).

"Oh alright," she said a little defeated, slowly she walked over to Katy to hand her Harry, "Bye Harry! Mummy loves you, see you soon ok?"

Harry beamed, happily at his mother and nodded.

When we got home that night something was wrong, the door was open and it was quiet. Too quiet. Lily grabbed my arm anxiously and we went inside. The house was in shambles and the silence pressed on us like heat from a fireplace.

"JOHN! KATY! HARRY!" Lily bellowed through the house, trying to keep her composure. She ceased her yelling when she herd me calling for her

"LILY, QUICK!" I yelled nervously. She ran into the living room to see me standing by the stairs; on the floor by my feet was John, the last of the Polyjuice potion just wearing off.

Lily clapped her hands to her mouth to stifle the shriek. As tears rushed to flow over her cheeks she lowered her hands, shakily. "Is he…Dead?" she croaked.

I nodded to her, Lily gasped and she sobbed poignantly.

"Let's go upstairs," I whispered, grabbing her hand. She nodded to me, sedatedly.

When we got upstairs the door to Harry's room had been blasted open and Katy was on the floor, lifeless.

Lily was hysterical. It was all too much for me as I buried my head in my hands. I tried to keep myself under control but was even more shaken up when Lily suddenly shrieked. She began moaning and gurgling hysterically and she rocked on the spot uncontrollably like a bad House Elf.

"Harry!" she breathed in the most pitiful strangled whisper I hoped never to hear again.

My gaze instantly moved to Harry's crib, though admittedly I was in denial. When I would look down I would see my dark haired son with his Mother's eye beaming playfully at me, waiting for me to play a game with him. I looked in Harry's crib, Harry was gone!

--

The thought of that night will always sting, I suppose. I still hear Lily cry at night sometimes.

At the moment we were in London again, because we wanted Ashley to go to Hogwarts.

As I lay on my bed in the Leaky Cauldron I thought about Harry, what would he be like? Look like?

The door opened and Lily walked in.

"Hello," she said placidly.

"Oh hi!"

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, looking suspiciously at me.

"Thinking…" I replied, distantly.

"About?" she asked.

"Harry…"

"I know. I've been thinking about him a lot lately, too…"

"He would be 15 in a week," I said, frowning.

"I know…" said Lily, avoiding my eye.

"I wish we were a family…Ashley would have had an older brother."

"I know, me too James…" there was a knock at are door, "Come in!"

The door opened and my daughter Ashley walked in, she was in still in her pajamas and her red hair was up in a ponytail.

"Hey sweethaerat, did you just wake up?" Lily asked. Ashley nodded, it was then that I saw that she was crying, her hazel eyes were watery and her cheeks had tear tracks all the way down to her chin.

"What's wrong Ashley?" I asked concerned.

"H-Harry…" she cried.

"What about Harry, hon?"

"He-he's…" Ashley shuddered.

"He's what?" Lily and I asked urgently, our hearts hammering in our chests. Something was not right.

"Alive! Harry is a-alive!" Ashley said, feigning a smile.

"What? Ashley your brother is dead," I a bit more harshly than I intended. The bitterness was bubbling in my chest. Ashley was a natural jokester like me. But this was not funny. Not in the least.

"No Dad, he's not, look!" she handed me the newspaper, and I read the headline.

HARRY POTTER "THE BOY WHO LIVED" WINS TOURNAMENT!

"Oh my! It's true! Harry is alive!" said Lily, her voice fading as tears welled up in her eyes.

"But how? Fudge said that Harry was dead!" I was angry.

"I don't know, but why would he lie to us James!" Lily cried.

"So, he is alive?" asked Ashley.

"I guess so, so where has he been living for the past 13 years?" Lily asked.

"Well, with Sirius, after all he is Harry's Godfather," I replied, though a sort of doubt began to settle in my chest.

"Oh, no!" Lily cried.

"What?"

"Sirius would have raised him as a Marauder!"

"And what's so bad about that?"

"He would be just like you when you were in school!" She said, rolling her eyes.

"Again, what's so bad about that?" I asked again.

"I don't want my son to be a bully!" Lily said, "or to pull obnoxious pranks!"

"Hey! I was not a bully!"

"Yes you were! You hexed anyone that crossed your path!"

"MUM! DAD! STOP IT!" Ashley yelled. "Can we just go to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, yes, go get dressed. Hurry!" Lily motioned for Ashley to scat as she wiped her face, and went to the mirror in an attempt to make herself look decent.

"Are you two going to fight again?" Ashley asked

"No, now go!" I said to her, quickly staring at Lily who was now busying herself with her make-up.

"Yes sir!" Ashley replied, playfully as she walked out of the room.

A few moments later we were all assembled down the stairs readying to go into Diagon Alley.

(A/N: thanks to my awesome beta, Dreamstallion33, for editing all the chapters of this story. I never realized just how bad my writing was! I'm sorry! I'll be doing my best from now on to change. and hopefuly get better!

don't forget to review!)

Kat