Harry Potter was an Only Child
By Siriusly Amused
Author's Note: Hello everyone! -waves- I am Siriusly Amused and this is my latest story! -indicates story- Let's see, what to say about it. Well first off, it's an alternate universe fic. All you need to know right now is that Voldemort was caught before James and Lily went into hiding; therefore, they didn't need to go into hiding, they didn't die, and Harry isn't some superstar with a scar on his forehead He's a normal seventh year wizard with loving parents, great friends, and...SIBLINGS!!! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or places that JK Rowling has copyrighted.
Chapter One
Somebody Told Me
The Potters were the nicest and most unusual people on the block. No one knew what James or Lily Potter did for a living, but they must have made money some how because they lived in an elegant, two-story, white house that had an immaculate garden that motivated the other wives on the street to work on their own gardens. The Potters received odd visitors at even odder times of the night, they owned more brooms than necessary, owls flew in and out of their windows frequently, and their children spent most of the year at some unknown boarding school, even though they had attended the same primary school as the rest of the town's children. They'd come home for the Christmas and summer holidays with their pockets full of frog spawn and beetles, loud explosions would come from their bedrooms and they would often be spotted on the roof with telescopes and what appeared to be homework.
Lucky for the Potters, however, the people in the town didn't seem to mind their oddities. In fact, they were quite intrigued by the family. Lily and James had moved into the house in their early twenties with their bouncing two-year-old son, Harry. They attended Sunday mass regularly, always helped out at town functions, and never minded babysitting an ungodly number of town children at once. Soon after they moved in, they had another child; a baby girl they named Gwyneth Dianna Potter. Two years later, another son came around whom they named Aiden Remus Potter.
The three Potter children were the entertainment of the town. Lithe , lean, and energetic, the three of them would often lead the other town children on wild adventures that usually resulted with the mall's security kicking them out. All of the Potter children had James' hair; wild and dark. The messy mane worked for the boys, but Gwen started using product on her hair to make it behave itself when she was twelve. Harry possessed Lily's remarkable eye color and Gwen and Aiden both had clear, sky blue eyes and none of them inherited James' poor eye sight.
Indeed, even with their strange ways, the Potters were the town favorite and all of the towns' teenagers would wait on pins and needles for early July when the three Potter children returned home from that boarding school of theirs...
All was right with the world. The sun was shining brightly, the birds chirping merrily, and Harry Potter was half awake and basking in the fact that he was still in bed. Yes, he was happy, or at least he was until he heard his bedroom door open, followed by a gaggle of giggles.
"Nooo," Harry moaned, keeping his eyes closed in the hopes that if he doesn't see them, they will go away. "Gwen, I'm in no mood to indulge your friends in their freaky fantasies."
"Aw, Harry, you're no fun," came his sister's reply and Harry could just imagine her putting her hands upon her hips in a frustrated fashion. Harry opened his eyes and saw that he was right. Sighing, he pushed off the covers and sat up, revealing the fact that he was shirtless and kindling numerous squeals from the assorted 15-year-olds. He winced and brought the sheets back over him.
"Gwen, come on, it's my birthday," he whined.
"Oh, fine, kill joy!" Gwen exclaimed while ushering her friends out of Harry's bedroom. "I've got another brother anyway." And before Harry could react, a stunned scream came from down the hall, followed by numerous obscenities.
"What the fuck are all of you doing in my room? Get the hell away from me!"
Harry ran from his room, trying not to laugh at the fact that his younger brother's threats were quite cute because he continually squeaked during them due to puberty. Sometimes his voice would be nearly baritone like James' and Harry's, and at other times he sounded much like a squirrel. Harry entered Aiden's room to find his brother, standing on his bed with his back to the wall while the girls surrounded him. He looked much like a deer in head lights.
"All right, girls, get out of his room, come on," Harry tried, pointing to the door, but the girls weren't listening. Several were commenting on Aiden's growth spurt over the past year while the others looked about his room.
"Another broom? Don't you guys have enough?"
"Oh, look, it's his school uniform!"
"Hey, it's green! Gwen, I thought you guys had red uniforms?"
"Aiden was put in a different house than Harry and I," Gwen exclaimed, sitting in the armchair in the corner, filing her nails while she let her friends pick her brothers apart.
"And damn proud of it too!" Aiden exclaimed from his position on the bed as two of Gwen's friends inched uncomfortably close to him. Harry smirked, Aiden was wearing his green pajama bottoms with an overly large green tank top. It had taken a good part of the year, but Aiden had finally forgiven himself for being Slytherin. One of the girls rested her hand on his tank top and gave Aiden a quick peck on the lips, making the boy blush and seem highly ill at ease.
Harry marched over to the armchair and forced his sister to get up by taking hold of her arm. "Gwyneth," he growled through his teeth.
"I'm know, I know, I'm leaving," she said, throwing her nail file onto the floor in a childish manner and stomping out of Aiden's room. Her friends gave Harry and Aiden one last look of longing before following her out, leaving the boys in the room, alone. Harry looked over to his brother who was still standing on his bed, a far off look in his eyes as he gently brushed his fingers across his lips.
"First kiss?" Harry asked, crossing his arms and smirking slightly.
Aiden quickly brought his hand away and nodded.
"Yeah, they stole my first kiss too," Harry reminisced. "But believe me, yours is less embarrassing. I was asleep and my mouth was hanging wide open with drool everywhere." Harry jumped upon the bed to join his brother, ruffling his hair. "You'll get a lot of firsts this year," he told him.
"Like beating you in Quidditch?" Aiden asked, grinning evilly.
"In your dreams, maybe," Harry answered, hitting Aiden's stomach and making him double over with an 'ooof'. Harry began to laugh as Aiden growled and chased him. The two boys ran down the hall and stairs and into the kitchen where Harry collided with James.
James caught Harry from falling just as Aiden skidded into them. "What the hell's going on?" he asked, though he was smiling.
"We're rough housing!" Aiden exclaimed, regaining his balance.
"Without me?" James' asked with a hurt expression, and with that he grabbed Harry and put him in a head lock. "How's the birthday boy this morning?" he asked, squeezing tightly around Harry's neck. "Just think, Harry, this time next year, I'm going to take you to a bar! We'll get pissed drunk and come home singing 'God Save the Queen'!"
"Oh no you won't!" came a female voice from behind them.
"Lily, he'll be eighteen and there'll be nothing you can do to stop us!" James protested, letting go of Harry and standing up straight to his wife.
"You'll be sleeping on the sofa for a month," Lily threatened.
James blanched. "Just think, Harry, by this time next year, I'll let you have a sip of my beer sometime."
"Much better," Lily stated, coming to Harry and giving him a hug. "Happy birthday, sweetie!" she exclaimed. "Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whip cream?" she asked, walking over to Aiden, who had meandered to the refrigerator, and giving him a hug as well before gently guiding him away from the snacks.
Harry smiled. "Yeah, sure. Just don't give a bottle of whip cream to the girls; they might get ideas."
Harry's parents both sent him cocky grins. "Kissed you again, did they?" James asked. Harry jerked his thumb to Aiden, setting off shrieks of delight from his parents.
"Harry, I'm going to kick your ass," Aiden exclaimed, chasing Harry into the living room. The boys fought briefly before Aiden decided that they should break out Harry's old baby videos to reminisce since he was now an adult.
"No!" Harry protested, plopping down on the sofa. "I had freaking chubby cheeks! Besides, you're in some of those movies too!"
"Yes, but I, unlike you, was a looker when I was young," Aiden explained, dragging out a large box that had 'baby movies' written on it in James' sloppy scrawl. Aiden knelt down and began rummaging through it. "Let's see, I don't want to watch your birth again. I can't believe Mum let them film that. Disgusting movie. Your first steps were quite amusing but...hello there, who are you?"
"Hmm?" Harry asked, slouching down on the couch and propping his bare feet onto the coffee table.
"There's an unmarked tape. Mum marks all the tapes diligently."
This perked Harry's interest. "Well let's see it then. Put it on."
Aiden went over to the TV and slipped the tape into the VCR. The eternal ant race flickered for a moment before an image of the dinner table that James and Lily owned in their first home came into focus. Sitting around that dinner table were four men in their early twenties playing poker. The boys recognized three of them. One was their father who sat with Harry on his lap. The man to his right was Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and best friend of James. Harry noted that Sirius didn't have a wedding ring yet, therefore this took place between his first steps and his first word. On James' left was Remus Lupin, everyone's favorite teacher at Hogwarts. He seemed to be loosing the game. The unknown man sat across from James and after several minutes, the boys found out that this man was named Peter.
Harry was beginning to wonder why his parents kept this video at all. It appeared to be nothing more than a boring poker game between the four friends to try to alleviate the pressures of the war. Even baby Harry was boring in this movie. At the beginning of the movie, Harry was bouncing around in James' lap, trying to grab his cards and making cooing noises. But now, Harry was quite still; his green eyes fixated on Peter.
"Whoa, look at that look you're giving Peter," Aiden mentioned from the floor. "Your eyes are As if you hate him. I don't think I've ever seen you give anyone a look like that."
Harry moved to the edge of the couch, leaning forward and placing his arms on his knees to get a better look. His baby self did look creepy. Like a child possessed by a demented teenager. Soon the other men in the movie noticed it as well. A chill fell over Harry even though the late morning sunshine flooded the living room and the smell of breakfast was beginning to fill the house. A dull throbbing was beginning to form in Harry's head. The throbbing intensified greatly as everyone in the movie turned to baby Harry.
"Harry, you looking at Uncle Peter?" James asked brightly in the movie, bouncing baby Harry up and down on his knee to try to get a smile out of him and not the look that babies should not possess.
"He's not my uncle," baby Harry stated, quite plainly, in perfect English. He had a high, baby voice, but it was tainted with an edge so great that he might as well have had the baritone one that Harry now used.
"Fucking hell," Aiden exclaimed under his breath. The pain in Harry's head was making it hard for him to concentrate on the movie, but he squinted his eyes and forced himself to ignore the it.
The men in the movie all jumped at Harry's first coherent sentence. James looked perturbed. "I don't know whether to get Lily or to run away screaming," James' announced, trying to lighten the mood, but all he accomplished was for Harry to revert his chilling glare at him instead of Peter.
"Why don't you do us all a favor Dad," baby Harry stated, putting a hint of venom in the word 'dad', "and put down your fucking cards and kill that bastard over there," he continued, pointing his chubby hand at Peter.
"Okay, this is getting a bit weird," Aiden stated. Harry ignored him and continued to focus on the movie, wishing he didn't have a searing pain on his forehead.
"What?" James' whispered.
"You heard me," baby Harry continued. "Check the bastard's arm. Haven't you wondered why he's been wearing long sleeves in August?"
At this, Peter made to get up, but Sirius and Remus were too quick for him. They got a hold of him and forced him to sit down. After a moment, Remus rolled up Peter's sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark. Peter struggled futilely as the other men gasped.
"The son of a bitch deceived you all. You and Mum had to go into hiding with me and you stupidly made him your Secret Keeper. He of course told Voldemort where you were. Voldemort came and killed the two of you and tried to kill me but Mum put a damn charm on me that allowed me to live what turned out to be a really shitty life. He then goes on to blackmail Sirius and so Sirius gets put into Azkaban for twelve years. He escaped during my third year only to live life on the run and die in my fifth year. You, Remus are still alive, but you're only a shell of a man. And I, heh, I made some really dumbass mistakes with my life and as a result Sirius died, Hagrid died, and my best friend, Ron, died as well. God has given me a second chance though. A few months ago, I would get glimpses of this night in my dreams and wake up with a headache. But now I'm here, so you three are going to torture this bastard and get Voldemort's whereabouts out of him, and he will break, let me assure you. You'll then go to Dumbledore, he will take care of Voldemort and we all live happily ever fucking after."
The movie went out after that. Aiden shivered. "You were a creepy...Harry?"
Harry was lying on the floor, jerking as if he was going through a seizure, his hands clamped firmly over his forehead.
"Harry!" Aiden exclaimed, going closer to his brother. "Mum, Dad, it's Harry!" he yelled. James and Lily rushed into the room; they immediately fell to the floor, next to their eldest son. Aiden watched as his parents removed Harry's hands from his face. Harry's forehead was bleeding. The blood dripped down into Harry's eyes from what appeared to be a lightning bolt cut.
Behind them, the movie flicked back on. The anguished screams of a tortured Peter sounded but all one saw was baby Harry, sitting on the table top, his eyes perfectly normal as he chewed on an abandoned card.
End Author's Note: I don't think I've ever written a story like this before. It started out all happy, didn't it? And now it's...well it's not happy, not really. This story will have happy moments in it, a nice look at how life may have been for Harry if Voldemort hadn't happened, but this is a sort of suspense story I guess. It has a plot and the whole demented baby Harry movie and Harry's reaction (including the lightning bolt cut) are important and will be explained soon. So please review and let me know what you think of the idea of the story and of the new characters. I put a lot of thought into my characterization for this fic (like I do all my fics, really). James and Lily are basically the characterization that most people at fan fiction give them. Harry is normal Harry, only slightly changed. He didn't grow up his harsh life, so he's more carefree, less serious, less moody (at least at the moment), and sadly, also less mature. Aiden is a lot like Harry and would be the exact same if he had been put into Gryffindor, but Slytherin has given him an edge (hence the swearing). And Gwen is very immature (you probably figured that out already). I'll develop all of their characters later...well of course I will...I'm going to let you guys go review before I really start to ramble.