Disclaimer: I always forget these darn things, I'm broke, I've got like 74 cents in a jar on my bed kind of broke. So obviously I don't own, can't claim, or hold rights to Harry Potter or any other characters of J.K. Rowling's creation.

Now Betad by: Ashlynn LionHart Many thanks for your attentive eyes and willingness to help better my story for my readers!

A/N: IMPORTANT!

I am posting this on a whim. It is no where near done! And the ideas are not even fully formed. So I have no idea how quickly or slowly the updates will be posted only they will. If people like it and review it, I can say that it will more then likely get them coming faster as I will be heartened and look forward to writing more.

This is just for fun! I am still working on the masterpiece that if you go to my profile or have been to it you will note is mentioned there: this is just something to help keep the cobwebs away. Remember this is a WIP as in not fully written so suggestions are welcome and may very well be used!

I have not stopped working on Domino Effect or Blind Man's Favor nor on that of My Masterpiece. I simply am excited about this new idea that I just couldn't make myself put off any longer.

My New Year's Resolution was to be more consistent in my updates and stay focused on my written works. So I will do my best! Please remember that I update my stories one at a time and try to update each story before updating again. (This is the main reason that my updates may seem far between)

Altering History

~Chapter One~

-A Series of Events-

Harry twisted as another spell shot past him as he ran, shooting a spell over his shoulder without bothering to aim. He made a quick turn down a side street and again at the chance, only to swear under his breath at the sight of familiar figures ahead. Taking out one of the leading members of the group who fell and by proxy took out the person next to them. He didn't have the time to appreciate the small achievement, however, he quickly ducked another spell he felt come too near for comfort at the same time hearing that it hit someone not far behind him informing him the others had finally caught up.

If there was anyone who could claim, accurately, to be an expert at being able to escape tight spots it would be Harry, but he was starting to accept that there would be no escaping this time. He was in pretty bad shape. His left ankle was twisted and right shoulder dislocated maybe broken meaning he had to resort to casting spells with his left hand. If he got out of this, he swore he was going to make sure he could at least shoot straight with equal accuracy. Luckily the enemy was so bunched up in aim it didn't really mater a whole lot, no mater that he rarely hit the person he meant to. He had a deep gash on his right side that was refusing to stop bleeding, the loss of life fluid didn't help the fact his eyes were having trouble focusing, what with the gash over his eye, and there were also the numerous bumps and scrapes and bruises not to be forgotten.

He hadn't stopped snapping off spells and dodging them, mentally ignoring all his hurts which was second nature ingrained from his youth. A misstep made his ankle collapse under him. Large emerald eyes grew impossibly wide as he watched the oncoming spell as he fell right in its path not even noticing another behind him. He never even realized that, though they would hit simultaneously, neither hit him.

X~x~x~x~X

Axel Branson sighed in a defeated sort of way as he looked upon the rubble before him. His partner, Andrew Hopkins, was already shifting what he could to reach the still mostly attached rooms. A few other sets of Aurors worked either on the same task or searching the rubble before them. There were half a dozen hit-wizards that searched the area for those that had caused the mess. Bran, as most called him, silently prayed the house had been empty as he made his way through the mess. It was a quickly shattered prayer, with a shout that a body had been found.

He quickly made his way toward the shouting. Auror Carson, a respected member of the Auror Core was clearing the rubble to uncover an older male with black wavy hair. It only took a moment to affirm the man was dead, the result of an as yet unidentified spell. Another shout had Bran leaving Carson to take care of the man to locate Darcy a room away where a mostly uncovered woman who had beautiful dark brown hair fanned out about her face, obviously untouched from how it fell. She looked like she slept; clearly another victim of the killing curse.

Shaking his head, he moved away searching more rooms hopping the two, a couple, had been the only ones home. He entered a mostly still intact office and was riffling though a few documents that had been left on the large mahogany desk. He dropped them like they were on fire when he caught a glimpse of a picture on the edge of the desk. He was in the mist of reaching for it when a panicked shout reached his ears. "Call a healer, they're alive!"

X~x~x~x~X

Harry opened his eyes repressing a groan of pain. He was slightly startled when a hand smoothed his hair and a voice hushed him. "Shush Rhy, I think they've gone, but someone's here. It's okay though, I'm going to make sure you're okay." Harry looked over to a boy about 16 maybe 17 yrs old with dark brown hair that matted on one side, by what Harry knew from experience was blood. His eyes, a lovely hazel, were glazed in a mix of pain and fading senses.

Harry noted they were both lying on the floor and the boy was lying very close. For some reason Harry's insides ached at the thought the other was hurting. "Rhyel, listen to me." The boy's breath was raspy and it had a tone that Harry knew too well. So despite the fact the boy obviously thought he was someone else; he took the boy's hand to reassure him he'd listen even if he wasn't Rhyel. If he could he'd make sure Rhyel knew what this boy wanted to tell the other. The boy was dying and he knew it; so what ever he had to say, had to be important to him. "Remember, no mater what you're my little brother and I'll always love you. Be happy, promise Rhy you'll take care of you and you'll get past this little brother."

Harry didn't even realize he was crying till he heard himself sniffle. Swallowing around a lump in his throat he whispered, "I promise." He could see the milky look of blind eyes take over the boy's eyes. He jerked as he heard a voice yell something nearby, but he couldn't be bothered to pay attention as the lad was speaking once more. "You'll be alright now little bro, but I'll always watch over you, that's my promise. I love you scamp." A raspy breath, and then the boy was gone.

Harry's vision disappeared as a flood gate of emotion overtook him. He didn't understand it. He didn't even know the boy's name but the sudden empty hole in his chest couldn't be compared to anything he'd ever felt except maybe the loss of Siri; not even Remus or Ron and Moine's deaths had felt so painful.

X~x~x~x~X

Bran was making his way up the still partially attached stairs when a scream filled with untold amounts of pain and anguish filled the air. He picked up his pace entering a room, which mere feet from the door the floor disappeared into nothingness. The sight within the room made his heart constrict.

Kinston, a fairly new member to the Auror core, was trying to detach a small boy of possibly 9 or 10 from an older boy of 16 or 17 who was obviously beyond them all now. The boy was obviously the source of the retched screams and beyond hearing any of Kinston's reassuring words. A strong sleeping spell made the child's body go limp. Kinston shot him a disgruntled glare. "Was that really necessary?"

Bran sighed, "The lad's injured, and all that commotion wasn't helping his condition. It was obvious he was too upset to hear you. It will be better to deal with his hysterics once he's no longer in danger of joining the other lad beyond the veil."

qp

Three weeks had passed since the rediscovery of the long lost Peverell home and bloodline; the sole surviving member of which lay in the bed in the room behind him basically catatonic. The child had been inconsolable when he'd finally woken from the spell and medically induced coma. Once the tears had stopped, much to the Medi-witches' relief, he'd thought the worse was behind him, but he'd been wrong. The child refused to speak and barely acknowledged those around him. The Medi-witch presumed the child's awareness would become better as the shock he'd apparently slipped into wore off. She was very adamant that the child be allowed to decide on his own terms when to start speaking again, and that any stress be avoided as much as possible.

He took a steady breath as he watched his partner progress near him with two familiar people with him. He nodded his thanks to his partner and waited till the man left before addressing the couple who remained. "Lord and Lady Potter, thank you for coming on such short notice and with such little information." He waved them toward the room next to the child's which was currently empty of occupants. The only reason he was willingly leaving the child's door unguarded was because he knew for a fact Kinston was keeping watch within.

Once they were secured in the room behind privacy wards Charlus Potter asked, "What is this all about?"

Bran waved them toward the chairs in the room for them to sit, "I have every intention of answering all your questions. All I ask is a bit of patience and secrecy on the situation no mater how the outcome of this discussion comes out. I'll actually be requiring an oath on that." He waited as the pair seemed to talk it over then nodded in agreement. They both offered oaths of secrecy and discretion, making some of the tension Bran had been holding onto disappear. He was very glad they hadn't fought him on that. "Thank you, now I'll fill you in on the situation we seem to find ourselves in." He took a deep breath, "Three weeks ago the ministry was alerted to an attack and a large scale of magic and illegal spell work. Several teams arrived to the location to find it a practically destroyed home. One we later learned had been under safeguard and the highest level of secrecy charms and wards for generations, which had all just collapsed."

"Those responsible were gone by the time of our arrival. Inside we located the long thought depleted Peverell bloodline. The Husband and wife had quickly been located and identified as deceased. It took us several minutes more to find their children. Both severally injured, but alive at the time. It wasn't moments later, giving us no time, which the eldest slipped beyond our help. We were able to assess that he'd taken the brunt of the damage trying to protect the younger." Bran rubbed his tired eyes, "Right now the sole survivor to the direct Peverell line and the latest Death Eater attack is laid up in the room next door. He's 12, from the birth records we were able to locate in the house hold. He only recently woke up from being in a medical coma, and currently he is in a state of shock and self imposed period of silence."

The pair had their whole attention on him and Bran could see confusion as well as worry clear in their eyes. "As far as we were able to discern you are his closest living relatives. We believe he could very well still be a target and any family he is placed with could easily become a target." Bran didn't get a chance to continue as Dorea cut him off.

"Of course we'll take him in, even if he weren't family, the poor dear." Charlus nodded his agreement to his wife's assessment. His son would be 13 in a few months and the thought of his son in such a condition made his heart constrict.

Bran smiled, "That's good to know Mrs. Potter. I know you'd probably like to meet him now, but I'd like to have a chance to explain things to him before that happens. His mental state is delicate and we have to ease him into things. If you'd be willing to return tomorrow once he's been told, he should be able to return home with you at that point."

"That's agreeable, it will also give us a chance to talk with our son and house guest." Charlus spoke softly. "What's the boy's name?"

"From the paper work we found and as far as we can figure Rhyel Rigel Peverell, at least that's the name he responds to more naturally. He started crying whenever anyone tries Ryder, so we believe that was his brother's name." He gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I should warn you that he may be unresponsive or have a range of emotions at any given moment. The healers say it's to be expected and shouldn't be worried over too much for now. He also shows signs of having a history of illness; he was probably prematurely born so he's small and fairly delicate in general." The Potters shared a look, drawing strength from each other.

X~x~x~x~X

Harry couldn't even start to explain how confused he was. He woke after being ambushed by a posse of Death Eaters that he should have died from to watch a boy die only to wake again in a hospital. Someone had been kind enough to tell him 'his family' were dead and that he'd be okay. Oddly enough this only succeeded in making the aching pain in his chest return.

It hadn't taken him long to realize he had somehow become a child again, 12 if what the others said was anything to go by, with black locks that were much more tamed than his usual hair and his own emerald eyes remained. He was still small, but more of a sickly child small than a starved repressed growth small. After all he wasn't completely skin and bones as he'd been at his own 12 yrs. His skin was paler and his hands were more delicate with no calluses or scars.

Maybe he'd fallen into a coma and this was his own mind providing him with a means of escape. Or maybe he'd died and this was a bizarre form of Hell or the after life… than again maybe he was Rhyel and the events had broken his mind into creating an alternate reality within it. One thing he knew for sure was until he figured it all out he'd keep his mouth shut. After all one doesn't have to explain or take back something if it was never said in the first place…

HELP: Should Peter turn into the rat he is or should I change how that turns out? I have most of the changes I want in mind, but I'm still up in the air about this. Please let me know what your thoughts are. Any suggestions are welcome, or any idea on what you might like to see would be appreciated.

I am Posting this at the bottom of Every chapter from now on (if I don't forget) For those who just start reading the story and don't read old A/N's. Sorry to all my dedicated readers, I don't mean to be repetitive.

Pease Read!

This is here for YOUR benefit as much as mine.

I now have a beta for this story, however, if you ready my other stories or happen across a mistake one of us didn't catch this could help explain.

I have a note posted on my profile, but have come to the conclusion that very few read it. I was born with a learning disability known as Dyslexia. For more information there is a detailed explanation on my profile, feel free to read, I highly recommend if you don't know what Dyslexia is. If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to ask me. I don't mind answering questions, but you can also look up more information online.