I welcome you all to my latest epic length story. It's an ambitious tale chronicling the life of Harry James Potter, the brother of the Boy Who Lived. If you are at all interested in finding out how a child, who was loved so very much by his parents and brother, could become one of the most infamous wizards of all time, I invite you to read on.

This story is rated Mature for violence, sexual situations, and language.

Harry Potter and The Boy Who Lived

Chapter 1

An Alternate Beginning

Manifestation of Destiny

(Oct. 31st, 1981)...

"Avada Kedavra." With a burst of green light, a serpentine-looking man casually killed the Muggle standing in his way. The Dark Lord's blood red eyes showed neither enjoyment nor anger at the monstrous deed. Killing Muggles was simply a service that he performed for the wizarding world.

The sound of frantic footsteps caught the Dark Lord's attention. He turned and saw a Muggle woman, tears running down her face, staring at her dead husband from the foot of the stairs. "David! David, please, get up!" she cried.

The Dark Lord couldn't help but let a soft laugh escape his lips. "I'm afraid that you are now a widow, Mrs. Evans."

"You monst–"

"Imperio," the spell immediately stopped the frantic woman's screams. "You will take me to Nathan Potter."

The woman obediently turned on her heels and led the cruelest man on the planet upstairs where her two grandchildren were sleeping. She pushed open the door at the end of the hall and walked forward into the room where a single crib housed the two young boys.

Voldemort followed the Muggle with a satisfied smile on his face. Ever since he had been told of the prophecy that foretold his fall, he had done little else but plot for the destruction of the child. It had not taken long for his network of spies to find all the children born near the end of July. A clerk at St. Mungo's under the Imperius curse had easily obtained and copied the records for every child born near the end of the month of July. From those records, the Dark Lord learned of two children born on the 31st of July.

Harry Potter, born July 31st at 22:42, and Nathan Potter, born July 31st at 22:50. Nathan Potter was the last child born in magical Britain in July.

Born as the seventh month dies, the Dark Lord remembered thinking as he read the records. Nathan Potter would be the one who could bring about his doom. That would not happen. He would simply kill the boy before he ever became a threat.

Unfortunately, the ancient magic with which Albus Dumbledore had protected the Potters was, as much as Voldemort hated to admit it, practically impenetrable.

Voldemort's followers had attempted to kidnap the blood-traitor Sirius Black and torture the location from him, but the mission had failed, and now Black was hidden away someplace under a Fidelius charm as well. His spy had reported that Dumbledore himself was Black's Secret-Keeper, making getting to Black impossible.

In his frustration, Voldemort had ordered his spy to kidnap the Potter children; however, that rash plan had failed spectacularly as well. The additional wards around the Potters's property wouldn't allow the children to be forcibly taken outside by anyone without a blood tie. The plan had nearly cost him his only spy in the Order of the Phoenix, and it was only Peter's quick talking that convinced the Potters of his innocence in the matter.

The Dark Lord was not a fool. He recognized that thus far his plans had been rushed and ill-conceived. No, Voldemort had always learned from his mistakes, and so, he waited. He would wait and plot the child's demise until an opportunity could present itself. In the meantime, he vented his frustrations by launching attacks against wizarding Britain. He was relentless. Giants, trolls, vampires, werewolves, and Death Eaters were all sent out on nightly missions.

While the war escalated, his spy, who was acting as a mail carrier between Lily Potter and her Muggle parents, was hinting to the Potters how much the mudblood bitch's mother and father wanted to see their grandchildren. Eventually the Potters agreed with Peter, who suggested that the order meeting on Halloween, being only an hour or two, would be safe enough to leave the children with their grandparents, especially since Peter would remain on location to guard them.

On Halloween night, the Potters dropped their children off at their Muggle grandparents' home. Immediately upon their Disapparation Peter had contacted the Dark Lord, and now Voldemort was prepared to ensure his eternal domination.

The Dark Lord looked between the two children lying next to one another in the crib. "Which one is Nathan Potter?" he demanded of the Muggle.

The woman quickly took one of the children in her arms and presented him to the Dark Lord.

"Place him on the floor," Voldemort ordered.

As soon as the child was on the floor, it began to cry. Soon afterward, the other Potter child woke up and began crying as well.

Having served her purpose, Voldemort ended the female Muggle's life with a swift Avada Kedavra.

The woman falling dead at the feet of Nathan Potter only increased the frantic children's cries. Looking between the two Potter boys, Voldemort raised his wand to kill Nathan Potter's twin first; however, as he was about to send the killing curse at Harry Potter, the magical ward he placed around the Muggle's home quivered and failed.

Dumbledore! Voldemort would recognize his old professor's magic anywhere. He had come to defend his chosen one, but the old man would be too late this time; the boy would die by his hand! Turning his wand away from Harry Potter, Voldemort snarled, "Goodbye Nathan Potter. Avada Kedavra!"

The Dark Lord smiled as the green light shot out of his wand and struck the child in the head; however, everything soon went wrong. Nathan Potter screamed out in pain and the killing curse seemed to pool around the child's forehead before flying backwards at Voldemort, who took the full brunt of the curse in his chest.

With a scream of absolute agony, Voldemort felt a soul tearing pain as his body was destroyed.

Present and Past

Godric's Hollow, (Dec. 11th, 1988)...

"Please, Mum," Harry whined while giving his mother his best puppy eyes.

Lily sighed. They had had this conversation far too many times. "Harry, no. You and Nathan are much too young to start learning magic."

It had been seven years since the fateful night in which the Dark Lord had vanished. Seven years since her youngest son, Nathan, had been proclaimed the wizarding world's savior. Seven years since she and James had found out that one of their closest friends had set up her parents and their children to die.

A lot had changed in the world, and not all for the better. Once the Dark Lord had been defeated, Lily had wanted to drop the Fidelius charm on Godric's Hallow and live their lives as normally as they could. Unfortunately, that was not destined to happen. Albus had warned against dropping the charm. At first it was just to be while the Dark Lord's followers were being captured, and after what happened to Frank and Alice Longbottom, Lily was thankful she and James had listened to Albus. However, when several known Death Eaters avoided jail by claiming the Imperius curse, Lily and James had been forced to keep the charm up for longer than they had intended.

When Harry and Nathan were five, they had considered dropping the charm. That decision had been nixed after one family outing into Diagon Alley. They had been mobbed by well-wishers and people wanting to take pictures of Nathan. Needless to say, both boys were terrified of the massive screaming crowds, and it was only Albus' timely arrival with several former Order members that saved them from being completely run over.

After the Diagon Alley incident, Albus had suggested that James and Lily raise Harry and Nathan under the Fidelius charm, to avoid Nathan from becoming arrogant about defeating Voldemort. Albus only needed to ask James what he would have been like if he had defeated the most powerful wizard alive as a one-year-old to gain the couple's support. Lily would not allow Nathan to grow up an arrogant berk like her husband had once been, and James had long ago accepted that he never would have gotten Lily acting like he had during his first six years at Hogwarts.

Lily and James were proud to say that they had raised Harry and Nathan without showing any favoritism. When they told the two boys about how Nathan had stopped Voldemort, they made sure to mention that it was not any superior wizard power that had saved Nathan, but rather a one and a billion chance piece of magic. This ensured that Nathan didn't get a big head, and that Harry didn't feel inferior to his twin.

"But Mum, you said you learned magic before you went to Hogwarts," Harry argued.

"That was completely different, Harry," Lily replied. "I was almost ten at the time."

"But Nathan and I are eight. That's so close to ten."

The mention of Nathan caused Lily to glance around the living room curiously. "Where is your brother? I'm surprised he isn't out here arguing along with you."

Growing up with no other real companionship, her two boys were practically inseparable. Oh, they had their arguments, and they usually ended when one or the other said something hurtful, causing the other's magic to lash out accidentally. Nothing too harmful of course –Nathan removed all of Harry's hair once, and Harry had turned Nathan's skin pink on a few occasions. The two boys simply loved each other too much for even their magic to do anything more harmful than embarrass one-another.

"He's outside with Dad and uncle Sirius," Harry said with an innocent smile on his face.

Lily immediately felt herself stiffen. James had certainly grown up since Hogwarts, but whenever he and Sirius or Remus got together with the boys it was as if they all reverted into their 17 year old selves. "And what are they doing?" She asked.

Harry smiled brightly. "Uncle Sirius promised to teach us how to fly on real brooms over the holiday."

"He what!" Lily thundered.

"Yep, Nathan's outside testing the Nimbus 1700," Harry said, ignoring his mother's increasing ire. "You know, if you started teaching us magic, we wouldn't spend so much time trying to get Uncle Sirius to tell us about the pranks he pulled, or bothering Dad to get us a real broom."

Lily felt her eyes narrow, and she cast a suspicious look at her smiling son. "I thought you said your uncle Sirius already bought a Nimbus 1700."

Harry's face paled at what he had accidentally given away. "Well…he…"

"Harry, did your uncle buy you and Nathan a Nimbus 1700, yes or no?" Lily stared sternly at her oldest son.

Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and rubbed his toe into the carpet. "No," he admitted, looking very guilty about lying. "But Sirius and Dad have been hinting they will be getting us brooms sometime either over Christmas or for our next birthday."

Lily stared at Harry for a while as she mulled over her son's words. James had indeed been pressing to get the boys a racing broom for Christmas, but she had managed to get him to admit that eight was still a bit too young. She was certain, though, that he would be getting them both brooms for their birthday. Thinking of her two sons flying around on those twigs of death, recklessly playing Quidditch like their father, terrified her more than she was willing to admit.

Perhaps, she thought, she could prevent her two boys from becoming totally Quidditch-obsessed like her husband. While any wand magic was certainly impossible, she could teach them some theory as well as practical stuff with Potions, much like Severus had done with her when they were younger.

The thought of Severus Snape caused Lily to pause. She hadn't written to him in over a year, and hadn't seen him since a Potions convention in 1985. Their meeting had been awkward to say the least. A part of Lily had been angry at Severus for his role in giving Voldemort the prophecy, but she couldn't deny that he had changed sides at considerable personal risk to save her. She was not deluded enough to think Severus cared at all about James.

Still, she knew that Severus was teaching at Hogwarts, and that he probably demanded nothing but the best from his students. Severus simply didn't have the patience or temperament to expect anything less of them. It would certainly be in her children's best interest to know their Potions before stepping foot into his class.

"Harry, it was wrong of you to lie to me," Lily admonished. "I would have been very unhappy with your uncle Sirius, and you know how much I dislike apologizing to him."

Even though he was being chastised, Harry couldn't help but let a small smile grace his face at his mother's comment.

"I suppose, though, that I could begin to teach you and your brother some magic," Lily said as Harry let out a whoop of joy. "There will be rules. First, you will not be getting a wand. You're just too young to adequately control one right now, you could hurt yourself. That means you'll only be learning theory for wand classes, okay?"

Seeing that Harry didn't look exactly happy at not getting a wand early, Lily pressed on. "You will learn Potions from me, and I will let you brew things. You will not, under any circumstances, try to make something without me being there. Is that understood?"

Harry's disappointed quickly changed into delight as he nodded his head. Lily couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, Harry, now go tell your brother. We'll start your lessons this weekend."

Lily watched as Harry happily ran out of the room to go find his brother. Shaking her head and wondering what exactly she was getting herself into, Lily went into the kitchen to make herself some tea.

Harry's excited expression had reminded her so much of herself. She also had wanted to know everything about magic, and was upset when she found out that she couldn't get a wand till she went to Hogwarts. Lily remembered Severus' smile, not the smirk like he did now but a real smile, as she ranted about how unfair it was that they couldn't get a wand before they turned eleven. How much their lives had changed since then.

She recalled the moment their friendship had ended. How Severus called her a 'mudblood' that day after their owls. She had been heartbroken that he could do something so cruel, and had refused to listen to his apologies that summer. Lily knew that Severus held a great deal of anger towards his abusive father; she also knew that he had to be careful in his own House because he was a half-blood. Even when she noticed him hanging out with a rougher crowd starting in their sixth year, she never thought he'd become a Death Eater. Not Severus.

But he was. For how long she didn't know, but he was.

Still, Lily couldn't help but see his smiling eleven-year-old face when she thought of him, and she grudgingly admitted to herself that she was not exactly blameless in her onetime best friend's descent into the Dark Arts. She had been an emotional teenager. She had felt hurt and betrayed in the worst way by her best friend, and so she had lashed out and abandoned him. She was angry at Severus, but she never imagined, or wanted, him to fall the way he did.

Making up her mind, Lily slowly stood up. She had a very long and overdue floo call to make, and an old friend to make up with.

A Family Outing

Godric's Hollow, (July 31st, 1991)...

"Nathan, hurry up, we're going to be late!" Harry yelled up the stairs.

James laughed at his son's impatience. "Relax, Harry, we'll have plenty of time. The alley isn't going anywhere."

"But Dad, we've been eleven for hours already, and Nathan is taking forever."

"I'm here. I'm here. I'm here," Nathan said jumping down the last few steps.

"Finally," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

Nathan rolled his eyes at his brother. "The bookstore will be there waiting for you, Harry, don't worry."

"Yeah, well, unless we hurry, Mum won't let you and Dad stare at all the new brooms," Harry shot back, causing both Nathan and James to exchange a look of horror.

"Lily, dear, we had best be leaving. Don't want to fight the crowds, after all," James called out, quickly ushering his two boys into the kitchen.

"Already?" Lily asked.

"Well, you know, better be safe than sorry," James said shiftily.

Lily just stared appraisingly at James for a moment. "Alright. Nathan, remember your hat, and if anyone asks you your name, you say it's what?"

"Dudley Dursley." Nathan smirked.

Lily did not look at all pleased and turned to James accusingly. "That is not funny. The poor boy can't even hear the word 'magic' now without grabbing his…"

"Overly huge butt," Nathan quipped, but quickly fell silent at his mother's glare.

"We fixed everything, Lily," said James soothingly, "and the boy clearly overreacted –"

"That treat caused him to grow a tail, James!" Lily snapped angrily. "It was his first experience with magic."

"He was being a bully," Harry pointed out calmly.

"That's no excuse to stoop to his level," Lily said heatedly before calming herself. "I'm not having this argument again. Let's go."

After a few quick glamour charms, the now unrecognizable Potter family floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron and made their way through the magical gateway into Diagon Alley.

"Do we have enough money, Charles?" Lily asked, using James' middle name.

"Yes, how about we split up? I know Nathan has his apothecary stuff, but Harry has run out," James said.

"Alright," Lily agreed. "Let's meet in Ollivander's at noon." Seeing the ecstatic look on her husband's face Lily quickly added, "But so help me if you show up without any of Dudley's school supplies and a stupid grin on your face, I will ban you from taking Dudley to Quality Quidditch ever again."

Properly chastised, James quickly led Nathan towards Madam Malkin's while muttering about getting their shopping done quick.

"So where too, Harry?" Lily asked.

"Flourish and Blotts," Harry said immediately, earning a smile from his mother.

Harry had taken to learning magic from his mother like a fish to water, and Lily couldn't help but be proud of her son's enthusiasm. Ever since she had begun teaching Harry and Nathan, she had struggled to keep the lessons interesting for Harry without going over Nathan's head with the material. This was nearly impossible, however, as her older son had taken to obsessively reading every book the Potters owned on magic. She couldn't count the number of times she had seen her son fast asleep with a large book draped over his chest or practicing wand movements with a stick in the backyard while Nathan played Quidditch or practiced some pranking magic. It had even gotten to the point where Lily had ordered Harry to go play Quidditch one day with his brother and uncles.

While not completely identical, both boys shared their father's build and his black hair. Harry, though, tamed his unruly hair and liked to slick it back in a traditional pureblood way with a great deal of ever-holding gel. Nathan, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy mimicking his father's unruly hairstyle.

Besides their hair, another difference between the twins was that Harry had inherited Lily's bright green eyes while Nathan had his father's chestnut brown eyes and high cheekbones. Of course there was the one obvious identifier: Nathan had the now-famous lightning bolt scar on his forehead from where Voldemort's killing curse had failed to kill him.

"Alright, Harry, now remember: I have your list, and you can only pick three other books," Lily said as she guided her son into the shop.

Fifty-five minutes later an exasperated Lily Potter escorted her son out of Flourish and Blotts and quickly went about finishing up his shopping. She couldn't believe they had spent nearly an hour in the bookstore. If she was late to Ollivander's, James would never let her forget it. Well…James would drop it or be left to sleep on the couch, she decided, but Sirius and Remus would never let her forget it, and James would of course inform his fellow Marauders.

Arriving outside of Ollivander's, Lily checked her watch and saw they were five minutes early. Entering the shop, Lily immediately noticed James and Nathan sitting in a chair as Mr. Ollivander seemed to be fitting an excitable Irish boy with his wand.

"You got here early," Lily commented.

"Dad got us here twenty minutes ago," Nathan grumbled.

Lily couldn't help but smile. She still had James wrapped around her finger after all these years.

An excited scream of joy alerted the Potters that the now dancing Irish boy had found his wand. Seven Galleons later and the boy's mother dragged him out of the shop, giving an apologetic glance to the Potters as they left.

"Ah and now that that bit of business is wrapped up, I suppose that both the young Potters will be needing wands today?" Ollivander asked, turning his attention towards them.

"How did you know, sir?" James asked removing his glamour. "No one has recognized us all day."

"My boy, I remember every wand I've ever sold. Dragon heartstring, twelve inches, rather good for transfiguration, isn't it?" Ollivander gestured to James' wand. "And Mrs. Potter. Willow with a unicorn hair, rather bendy. Still, a good wand for Charms. I do wonder what you two boys shall end up with. Who's first?"

Nathan boldly stepped forward and Harry watched as his brother was measured by a magical tape-measure and then given wand after wand for testing. After what felt like an hour of Nathan lifting a wand above his head, and Ollivander snatching it back, the old man went back to his workstation and brought back a wand while seemingly deep in thought.

"Try this one, Mr. Potter. Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven and three-quarters of an inch,"

Nathan took the wand, and immediately waved it around causing red and gold sparks to fill the room.

"Bravo, Bravo, Mr. Potter, well done," Ollivander said as Lily, James, and Harry congratulated Nathan for finally finding his wand.

"Curious, curious," Ollivander mumbled.

"Excuse me sir, but what's curious?" Nathan asked, still grinning at his new wand.

Ollivander peered over his small spectacles at Nathan. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter, and as it turns out the Phoenix whose tail feather rests in your wand gave another feather, just one. It is curious that you would be destined for that wand when its brother gave you that scar."

The atmosphere in the wand shop quickly dropped as Nathan now looked at his wand in horror. Seemingly oblivious to the tension, Ollivander said, "Yes, yes, it is very strange how these things work out. After all it is the wand that chooses the wizard."

Everyone was silent for a moment before Ollivander turned to Harry. "Well Mr. Potter, you're next. Yes, we must hurry. If you take half as long as your brother, I expect we'll be here for a while."

With the tension seemingly broken, the Potter's settled down and watched as Ollivander began handing Harry several different wand combinations. "Maple and Dragon Heartstring… no not right. Rosewood and unicorn hair… simply not. Holly and Dragon Heartstring… oh, no, no, no. Maple and Phoenix feather... absolutely not but oh my what an explosion. Ash and Dragon Heartstring, Ten inches, a very temperamental wand."

Harry took the wand and immediately felt a shiver go from his hand down to his spine, with a quick flick, the wand shot out a silver stream of magic that impacted the wall and exploded into hundreds of bubbles."

"Success," Ollivander said cheerfully. "I daresay that you found your wand, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you, sir. No warnings about how my wand is the brother wand of Grindelwald, right?" Harry asked causing Nathan to smile slightly.

"No, I'm afraid not," Ollivander replied. "That will be fourteen Galleons, Mr. Potter."

First Impressions

King's Cross, (Sept. 1st)...

"Really, Mum, we'll be fine," Harry placated his mother for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"My boys have grown up," Lily said with a teasing smile on her face.

"Come on Lily, they're going to miss the train if we keep standing here outside the platform," James said.

"I know that, James, but it's not every day that Harry and Nathan start Hogwarts, and you're the one who said we should arrive late to avoid being mobbed."

"They won't be able to go to Hogwarts if they miss the train," James muttered. "I doubt we'll get mobbed now. Nathan has his hat on, and most the kids are probably already on the train."

"Fine. Let's go, boys. You remember how to get onto the platform?" Lily asked.

"Just walk through the barrier, Mum. I've been waiting for years to go to Hogwarts, and we've seen at least eight families already go ahead of us," Harry said somewhat impatiently.

"Yeah, let's go before Harry goes crazy at the thought of not seeing the Hogwarts library," Nathan teased.

"It's funny that you're laughing now, Nathan," Harry smirked, "because I didn't see you laughing after we got our wands and you couldn't stop a single one of my jinxes from hitting you."

"I'm sorry that I actually have a life and don't just practice wand movements and spells for hours on end," Nathan shot back.

"Oh, that's right, I'm sorry," Harry said sarcastically, "I forgot that your ability to lose to Dad at Quidditch means you have a life and I don't."

"Enough! Now boys, lets go one at a time," Lily said, gesturing towards the barrier.

Harry quickly grabbed his trunk and made his way to the other side of the barrier, and a few moments later he was joined by his brother and parents.

"I just don't understand how none of the Muggles ever notice," Nathan commented.

Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "It's called a Notice-Me-Not charm for a reason, genius."

"OK, that's enough," James snapped as Nathan opened his mouth to respond to Harry's taunt. "You boys are going to have to watch out for each other at Hogwarts, so don't start off on a bad foot."

"Sorry Dad."

"Yeah, sorry."

"Good. Now both of you have a good term, and we'll see you at Christmas," James said before hugging both of his children.

"Yes, and don't you dare forget to write," Lily said tearfully as she gathered her sons into a large hug. "I want to know how you're first day goes, what house you are sorted into, and everything else that happens to you."

After a few more goodbyes, Harry and Nathan finally were able to get away from their teary-eyed parents and made their way onto the Hogwarts Express.

"That took forever," Harry said as he struggled to life his trunk onto the train before helping his brother with his.

"Yeah, you'd think they would never see us again or something," Nathan complained. "Let's find a compartment close by, I don't want to lug this trunk all over the train."

"I know what you mea…wait, what's wrong with us," Harry said, shaking his head and then tapping both of their trunks with his wand.

Nathan's eyes widened as he was now able to lift his trunk without any problem. "How?"

"Feather-Light Charm," Harry explained. When his brother continued to look at him, he said, "It's in the seventh chapter of our Charms book."

"Is there anything you don't know already? Why are you even going to Hogwarts?" Nathan teased.

"Prat," Harry said with a smile as the two boys made their way down the train looking for an empty compartment.

"Oi, Fred, look! Lost firsties!"

"They seem to be getting smaller every year, don't they?"

Harry and Nathan turned around to see two grinning redheads approaching them. Nathan instinctively lowered his hat to cover his scar.

"We're not lost," Harry told the twins. "You'd have to be pretty dumb to get lost on a train."

"George, he's a smart one. Let's introduce him to our dearest brother," the first twin said.

"Oh yes, Fred, a capital idea. Ronald could use some smarting up anyway," George replied before grabbing Harry and his trunk. The redhead looked a little surprised at the weight of the trunk before ignoring it and practically dragging Harry down the hallway. After a brief walk, he opened a door and guided Harry into the compartment. A moment later, Fred appeared tugging Nathan into the compartment that, Harry noticed, had another red haired boy sitting in it.

"Ronald, we brought you some company!"

"Yes, now you don't have to sit all by your lonesome."

"Now play nice boys, and don't make us come back here for any trouble making."

"Gits," Ron yelled at his brothers as they left and closed the compartment door behind them. "Um, I'm sorry about them. Fred and George can be a real pain."

"Yeah don't worry about it, I know how brothers can be," Nathan smirked.

"Funny," Harry said dryly as he levitated his trunk next to Ron's.

"Wow," Ron said as he watched Harry levitate his trunk effortlessly, "Are you a second year?"

"No, we're both first years," Nathan commented when he saw that his brother wasn't about to respond. "Harry just has had nothing better to do for the past few years than study magic"

Ron's eyes widened. "Your parents let you learn magic already? You're so lucky. Oh, I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley."

Harry and Nathan shared a brief look before Harry nodded slightly, they'd have to admit who they were eventually. "Harry Potter, and did you know you've got a smudge on your nose?"

Ron blushed and tried to rub his nose a little before Harry's words seemed to hit him. "Wait did you say Potter?"

"Yes, hi, I'm Nathan Potter," Nathan said hesitantly as he took off his hat, revealing his lightning bolt scar.

"Wow," Ron said reverently as he shamelessly stared at Nathan's scar.

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes in annoyance at Ron. If he was indicative of how the Hogwarts population was going to treat his brother…well, it was going to be a long year.

"So, Ron," Nathan said a little awkwardly. "You play Quidditch at all?"

That seemed to snap Ron out of his daze. "Do I! I love Quidditch, I've been a Cannons supporter for my entire life…"

Harry couldn't help but shake his head as Ron began singing the praises of the Chudley Cannons while Nathan began arguing for the Pride of Portree. Harry could tell that the two would be obsessing about Quidditch for a while so he levitated his trunk down, removed a book on transfiguration, and ignored any attempt by Nathan or Ron to bring him into their Quidditch conversation.

As the countryside began to pass, there was a knock on the compartment, and the door opened revealing a bushy-haired girl. "Excuse me, but have you seen a toad?" the girl asked as she practically dragged another boy into the compartment with her. "Neville lost his."

Nathan looked up from his conversation with Ron. "No, sorry, haven't seen one."

The girl seemed oblivious to Nathan's response, though, as her eyes were locked onto Harry, who was waving his wand in a circle and making the occasional jabbing motion.

"Ooooo are you doing magic?" she asked before sitting down across from Harry. "Well let's see it!"

Harry looked at the slightly rude girl before a smirk crossed his face. Turning to face Ron, Harry jabbed his wand at the boy. "Pingo Orange." The spell shot of out his wand and struck Ron, turning his skin bright orange. "There now you look like a true Cannons supporter."

Ron looked horrified at his now-orange skin and angrily took out his wand."Turn me back," he demanded.

"Harry, turn him back," Nathan said seriously, "that's not funny."

"Fine, but only if you two promise to cut out the Quidditch babble, it's been hours already, and Ron, the Cannons are horrible, everyone knows that," Harry said as he raised his wand. "Finite."

Ron immediately turned back to normal and looked ready to explode in anger. Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the jinx or because he had mocked the Cannons – probably both.

Before Ron could launch into a tirade, however, the girl spoke up. "I've never seen that spell before. I've tried a few spells at home and they've all worked for me. I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger."

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" asked Hermione. "Any relation to Nathan Potter, The Boy Who Lived?"

Harry jabbed his thumb at Nathan. "That would be the illustrious savior right there."

Nathan scowled at Harry before saying hello to Hermione and a completely stunned Neville.

"You're really Nathan Potter! Did you know you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts?"

Once again Harry found himself tuning out the banter. He'd read both books the girl was talking about and found them to be lacking in any sort of validity. Honestly, they didn't even mention that Nathan had a brother.

Neville and Hermione left to go looking for Neville's toad again after a brief conversation about the Hogwarts houses. Harry was actually going to contribute to that conversation before Nathan had jumped in and proclaimed him to be a future Ravenclaw without giving him a chance to offer his opinion. He had glowered at his brother, but refrained from commenting on Nathan's insightful comments.

As the train ride continued and it began to get dark, the door once again opened. It took Harry one look between the pale faced boy that had just entered and his brother to let him know that nothing good was going to come of this meeting. With a jab of his wand, Harry sent a stream of sparks at the boy causing him to jump backwards into the hallway, knocking over the two other boys who were apparently planning on following him into the compartment. Harry then quickly stood up, closed the door, and locked it with a quick Colloportus.

"Know him already?" Harry asked his clearly upset brother.

"Yeah," Nathan said angrily, "I met the ponce in Diagon Alley."

"Who is he?" Ron asked.

"Draco Malfoy. I was in disguise, and he kept going on and on about how superior he was because of his family."

"I know that name," Ron growled. "My dad doesn't like Mr. Malfoy at all."

As Ron and Nathan began talking about how they couldn't wait to learn how to curse Draco, Harry shook his head and went back to reading. It wasn't like he needed a class to learn how to curse people; he'd been subtlety cursing Nathan since he got his wand –not that his brother noticed a lot, Nathan probably just assumed he'd been extremely accident-prone or unlucky during the month of August.

Hogwarts, Great Hall

Harry couldn't help but marvel at everything around him. The charms on the ceiling, the ghosts, the countless suits of armor, and the talking portraits were beyond what he imagined they would be. Sure, he had read about everything in Hogwarts: A History,and his parents and uncles had told him countless stories about Hogwarts, but seeing it all was truly amazing.

The Sorting Hat's song was interesting, and he briefly wondered if it had to come up with a new song each year. He looked up at the staff table and saw his pseudo-grandfather, Albus Dumbledore, looking proudly at each new student. Harry briefly caught the headmaster's eye, and he was certain that Dumbledore winked at him just before Assistant Headmistress McGonagall called out the first name to be sorted.

Harry recognized several names that his parents had mentioned. Abbott, Bones, and Davis were among the most notable that Harry remembered. Harry was briefly surprised that he and his brother weren't the only twins in their year. After Padma Patil was sorted into Ravenclaw and her sister Pavarti went into Gryffindor, McGonagall looked at her list of names and called out, "Potter, Harry."

Harry took a bold step forward, knowing that the whispers around the hall were more than likely about him and his brother. The last thing he heard before the hat fell over his eyes was one particularly classless Hufflepuff saying, "I didn't know the Potters had two kids."

"Hmmm, just what do we have here?" a disembodied voice asked.

"Hello?" Harry asked tentatively. "Hat?"

"Quite the mind you have, Mr. Potter, but you also have a great thirst to prove yourself. Yes, you fear the world will always see you as the brother of The Boy Who Lived. You wanted to prove yourself better than your brother…"

Harry bristled angrily. "I don't want to be better than Natha–"

"Please, Mr. Potter, you can not lie to me. Besides, it's not wrong to seek greatness, and you do seek greatness, Mr. Potter, there is no doubt about that. I've sorted many children, but only a handful ever held themselves to the same supererogatory standard you seem to set for yourself. Now, where do I put you, hmm?"

"Gryffindor?" Harry asked.

"Is that what you want, Mr. Potter? To be a Gryffindor?"

Harry paused. It was always Nathan's desire to be the perfect Gryffindor like their father, but did he really want to be a Gryffindor?

"Your silence answers my question. Now, while you initially started studying to try and prove yourself an equal to your brother, you developed a love and talent for magic that I have rarely seen in someone your age. Yes, it's quite clear you belong in…RAVENCLAW!"

The hat was quickly removed from Harry's head, and he looked up to see Professor McGonagall give him a small smile as the table furthest to the left exploded in cheers. Harry immediately set off for the Ravenclaw table as McGonagall called, "Potter, Nathan."

As everyone at the Ravenclaw table began trying to shake his hand and congratulate him, Harry did his best to watch his brother when the hat was placed on his head. Judging by the way Nathan was grabbing the stool and muttering to himself, it appeared his brother was having a very intense conversation with the Sorting Hat. After almost a minute had passed, the hat's brim opened and proclaimed Nathan a "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry couldn't help but clap with the rest of the hall as Nathan made his way over to the Gryffindor table. Harry knew Nathan had practically modeled himself after their father for some time, and that it had been his brother's dream to end up in Gryffindor just like their dad.

As Blaise Zabini was placed into Slytherin, ending the Sorting, Harry smiled. He was finally at Hogwarts with his brother. This year was going to be great.

A/N:

This story will have long chapters (10-15K words) and will move at a fast pace.

This will be a Dark!Egghead!Harry story. But don't fear, Harry's not just going to spend the entire story reading a book. That would be very, very boring.

Reviews make me smile. Smiling makes me happy. Being happy makes me forget about my Senior Thesis. Not working on my Senior Thesis frees up more time for writing Hpfanfiction. So, QED, more reviews = quicker update rate. I won't do anything crass like hold back updates because of a lack of reviews (that's really stupid), but I will give you readers a logical reason to leave a review in the first place.

Big thanks to Stanzi for doing the beta work.