Potter Manor was quiet as Harry lay on his bed. The sun was still rising, and he had woken up to Hedwig nipping at his ear with a letter attached to her leg. He had been annoyed at being woken up so early, but he couldn’t stay mad at his owl for long. Pulling himself up, he had taken the letter, summon a bag of treats he had for her before placing a few on the bed beside him. Hedwig happily helped herself to the small pile before flying across the room to sit on the perch that sat right beside the window.
“Don’t make a habit out of waking me up,” Harry said.
Hedwig squawked at him softly before she started to groom her feathers.
Harry shook his head and opened the letter. Inside was a short letter from Snape.
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Mr Black,
I have received your completed potion and am proud to state that you have succeeded in your recreation of the Water Breathing potion. Since you have completed all required components, your apprenticeship under me will commence as of the first of September.
Your school timetable will be specially designed for you to be able to complete your required classes as well as your apprenticeship. We will discuss the finer details when you arrive at Hogwarts.
Severus Snape.
He couldn’t keep the smile off his face. The potion had driven him nuts for most of his summer, but when he had finally worked it out, he hadn’t hesitated to test it out. His father had been the closest person, and Sirius Black wasn’t the type to back down from a challenge. He had sat on a pier and watched as his father jumped, headfirst, into a lake not far from their home. After forty minutes, Harry had decided that his potion was a success. That or his father was dead. But around the fifty-minute mark, a very excited and wet man that looked like his father emerged with a broad smile.
Harry hadn’t asked what he had been doing for almost an hour underwater, and he didn’t want to know.
With the potion completed, Harry sent a vial with a detailed report to the potion’s professor the day before. It had been his final test, and now he was the first apprentice of Severus Snape and possibly the only one.
Throwing off the covers, Harry walked over to his desk and wrote to his father. He also wrote a letter to Carlisle, and a few other friends, before sending Hedwig off to deliver them. The idea of also having a year that was finally a proper challenge excited him. With his letters sent, Harry decided to shower and dress before heading downstairs.
It was his first day staying at the Potters, and he would be with them for the next week, just until school went back. It had been the same since he was a kid, but the older he got, the more he hated having to spend a whole week with Harvey and James. Seeing his mother every day did improve his mood, but with Harvey’s constant need for attention and James treating him like a phantom, Friday could never come quick enough.
As he entered the kitchen, he was greeted with the smell of pancakes. Lily stood at the stove, four pancakes cooking in front of her, coffee was being poured by itself into three glasses, and there was a group of oranges squeezing themselves.
Lily smiled at him. “Good morning, sleep well?”
Harry nodded. “I did. And I received the best wake up call.”
Lily gave him a questioning glance.
Harry smiled and handed her the letter from Snape. She quickly read over it and squealed with joy. She wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said.
Harry hugged her back and let himself enjoy those words. It felt good to be celebrating something with her.
“Thanks, mum,” he said.
“What’s going on?” asked James.
Harry pulled back and forced himself not to frown. James would no doubt ruin his good mood, but he wouldn’t let it show, not when his mum was beaming.
“Harry is officially Severus’ apprentice,” said Lily.
James nodded slowly. “Oh, well done.”
Harry offered a tight smile and grabbed a cup of coffee.
Lily frowned. “That’s not for you.”
He smirked and took a sip.
“I can’t believe your father lets you drink that stuff, your fifteen, not thirty.”
James asked, “Why is there a third cup?”
“Uncle Moony is coming over,” said Harvey as he rushed into the room, wand in his hand.
“Right,” said James, “forgot about that.”
Lily huffed. “Honestly, how do you remember to put on your glasses?”
James shrugged.
Harry sipped his coffee and sat down at the table. He grabbed the daily prophet and flipped open to avoid the lovey-dovey scene that would no doubt unfold in a few moments.
“Harry, can you teach me how to be a better Seeker?”
Harvey dropped into the seat beside him and leant in close.
Harry frowned. “Personal space, Harvey.”
The boy pulled back. “Right, sorry.”
“And no.”
“Why not?” Harvey pouted.
“Because I said so.”
“That’s an answer only a parent can use,” said Harvey.
Harry rolled his eyes.
“Harry.”
He glanced up at the warning tone and saw his mother eyeing him as she slid a fresh pancake onto the tall stack.
“Harvey, how about we got out today and have a fly? Maybe I can remember a few of my old tricks,” suggested James.
Harvey sighed but nodded.
Harry could tell that he wanted to insist that he come too, but Harry wasn’t about to spend a whole afternoon with both James and Harvey. He was only in the Potter’s house to see his mum.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Remus Lupin, Harry’s and Harvey’s godfather, walked into the room. His face was covered in a few fresh scars, and there was a nasty bruise on the right side of his neck. It wasn’t a secret among Remus’ family and friends that he was a werewolf; he was accepted, and when they could, both James and Sirius would still meet up with him on the full moon and help keep Moony contained. There were a few times when he was alone, and the poor man would show up the next day covered in scars and bruises.
“Don’t worry about it,” said James.
“Yeah, Dad forgot you were coming anyway,” said Harvey.
James frowned at his son, but Remus just laughed.
“Work has been keeping me occupied; I hadn’t even realised that the full moon had even happened,” said James.
Remus sat down beside James and said, “I don’t blame you, mate.”
Harry hated seeing his godfather in such a state. He had already decided that he would spend as much time as he could trying to help Remus. Snape had already developed the wolfsbane potion, which helped, but Harry was hoping there would be a way to either stop the transformation all together or perhaps there would be a way to give Remus complete control when he did turn.
He stood from his seat, placed the paper down, and walked around the table to his bag, which was sitting near the back door. He dug down and, with a flick of his wrist, summoned a pain reliever for Remus. The blue bottle jumped up and into his hand, and he walked back over to the table.
“Take this,” he said.
Remus smiled at him. “Thanks, pup.”
Harry nodded and retook his seat. “I’ve improved the potency, should work faster and help with the healing too.”
Remus said, “You really have found your calling.” He uncorked the potion and drowned it. “And unlike Severus, your potions taste bearable.”
Harry smirked. “Yes, I think Professor Snape makes his potions taste bad just to get the satisfaction as he watches a person’s face when they take it.”
“Sounds like Severus,” said Lily.
She placed the large stack of pancakes into the centre of the table and a fresh cup of coffee in front of Remus.
“Speaking of potions, Harry, did you send a letter to Remus?”
Harry nodded. “Hedwig won’t be pleased when she finds him here.”
Remus asked, “What was in this letter?”
“Just that Snape accepted him for his apprenticeship,” said James.
Harry clenched his fist. Rather than allowing Harry a moment to share something he was excited about with his family, James had to jump in and take it from him. Harry threw down the paper and frowned at the man.
“What?” said James.
Remus cleared his throat and said, “I’m proud of you, Harry. Well done.”
“We all are; in fact, I think we should go out for dinner to celebrate,” said Lily.
Harry pushed back his chair and stood. “Excuse me, I’m not hungry anymore.”
He left the kitchen and walked back upstairs. Ideally, he would just go back to White Oak Manor, but he wasn’t going to just leave his mum. Upsetting her was not something he wanted to do. As he climbed the stairs, he stopped when he heard his mum speak.
“Really, James?” she snapped.
“What did I do?” asked James.
“We all know what you did, Prongs,” said Remus.
There was silence for a moment.
Lily said, “You couldn’t just let Harry share his news. It is hard enough to get my son to come and stay with me; you have to make sure that everything he does is belittled.”
“How did I do that?”
“He just got accepted for his apprenticeship. You couldn’t sound more condescending if you tried.”
“What would you like me to do, Lily, not speak in my own house?”
“Yes, that would be a great start.”
There was a scraping of a chair, and Harry wasn’t surprised when his mum appeared before him at the bottom of the stairs. She no doubt had every intention of apologising to him, but he didn’t want her too. His mum had done nothing wrong.
Lily spotted him and gave him a warm smile.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Harry shook his head. “You did nothing wrong.”
She climbed the stairs and pulled him to sit down beside her. She hugged his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.
“I know he is difficult. The whole situation is,” she said.
Harry just nodded.
“How about today, you and I go out? No one else, just us,” asked Lily.
Harry smiled. “That sounds great.”
He couldn’t remember the last time the two of them had spent time alone. Harvey was always there too, or they had to stay in the house, or plans changed because something had happened. It would be good just to be with her.
“Great. I think we could go to Diagon Alley; I heard there is a new potion shop open, and they have some great stuff. And then maybe we could stop back Flourish and Blotts; I saw a book the other day that I think I should grab,” said Lily.
Harry didn’t have a chance to respond. They were up and at the door, Lily telling James that he could clean up from breakfast and that she loved Harvey, and they were gone. Stepping out into Godric’s Hollow, Harry couldn’t stop his smile as his mum linked their arms together and dragged him off to a safe apparition point.
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Harvey sat out on the lawn in the backyard. The sun was shining, making the weather quite warm, and Harvey had tried to enjoy his day with his dad and Uncle Moony. When he had woken up that morning, he had been excited to have Harry there even if his brother often tried to avoid him. Harvey always tried his best, with his mum’s encouragement, to try and find something in common with his brother; when they were little, he could remember small moments of Harry playing with him or telling him that he loved being a big brother.
There was a point when that all changed, and Harry went from a loving brother to a stranger. The older boy stopped spending every weekend at the Potter’s, and he spent as much time as he could avoiding Harvey. It had hurt coming to realise that his big brother had no time for him anymore.
Ron Weasley, who Harvey had grown up with and was best friends with, had tried to cheer Harvey up, ‘older brothers are overrated’ was a typical comment from the redhead's mouth, as was ‘I’m your brother from another mother.’ While Harvey always thanked Ron for his attempt of comfort, there was no replacing the bond he so desperately wanted to share with Harry.
When Harvey had come down for breakfast, he had been ready to try and convince Harry to help him with Quidditch. He knew that Harry was the seeker for the Ravenclaw team at Hogwarts and one of the best players to have gone to Hogwarts. The apparent idea to Harvey was that he and Harry could bond over playing Quidditch together, and then when Harvey went to Hogwarts and became the seeker for Gryffindor, just like his dad did, it would help. But that hadn’t happened.
Instead, Harry had refused, and James had told his son that they could hang out. Harvey loved spending time with his dad, but he had been hoping to see Harry show a small amount of interest, but there had been none. And then, his dad had upset Harry, which upset his mum and led to both Harry and his mum going out for the day, just the two of them.
There had been many times when Harvey tried to understand why his father seemed to hold such hatred towards Harry. It had been Uncle Moony who explained to him about the affair and the complicated emotions that were a result of it all. Still, Harvey never understood how his father could hold it against Harry when he wasn’t able to control how he was born. Harvey wondered if James’ hatred for Harry had convinced Harry that Harvey too would one day be the same, but that was just a thought.
After Harry had left Godric’s Hollow with their mum, Harvey had eaten his breakfast while Remus chastised James about his behaviour. His father had played dumb and pretended that he hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was apparent to everyone. Once the meal was over, they cleaned up and grabbed their brooms; in the backyard—which was shielded so that the Potter’s could do all the magic they liked without their muggle neighbours noticing anything strange—they played Quidditch. Remus and Harvey teamed up against James, and for a few hours, Harvey could forget about their awkward breakfast.
When lunch rolled around, James went inside to make some food while Remus continued on with Harvey, but it wasn’t as much fun, so they landed and laid down on the grass. Remus was the one who broke their peaceful silence.
“Are you excited for Hogwarts?”
Harvey smiled and nodded. “I am. Gryffindor, here I come.”
Remus chuckled. “While I have no doubt that Gryffindor would be an excellent house for you, don’t be so sure that is where you’ll be placed.”
Harvey frowned. “Why not?”
“Well, look at Harry,” said Remus, “Your mother and Sirius were both in Gryffindor, and Sirius’ family were all known to be in Slytherin, but Harry is in Ravenclaw. You could end up in Hufflepuff for all you know.”
Harvey cringed. “I don’t want to be in Hufflepuff or Slytherin.”
Remus sighed. “As I said, we don’t know. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
“How do we get sorted?” Harvey asked.
There seemed to be a mystery around the sorting process. Any adult or current student he’d asked had given him a cheeky smile and told him to just wait and see, all except Harry, who had frowned and walked away.
“It’s a surprise,” said Remus.
Harvey huffed. “What is so special about the sorting that I can’t know?”
“It’s always been this way. A small surprise for first years, muggleborn or wizard born, everyone gets a surprise.”
“I think it’s stupid.”
Remus laughed. “Only because you want to know.”
“Fine, if you won’t tell me how I get sorted, can you tell me why Harry doesn’t like me?”
Remus sat up and gave Harvey a concerned look. It was the same look adults always gave him whenever Harry dismissed him.
“I don’t believe that Harry doesn’t like you,” said Remus.
Harvey gave him a look of disbelief.
“In fact, I think Harry loves you like a brother; he just has difficulty showing his emotions.”
“He hugs mum and tells her that he loves her all the time. Same with Uncle Sirius. He laughs and mucks around with his friends, even Draco Malfoy,” said Harvey, cringing when he pictured Harry hugging Draco with one arm to his side. “How can he like a Malfoy more than me?”
Remus laughed softly. “Well, Carlisle and Draco are Harry’s cousins, don’t forget. They are his family.”
“But I’m his family; what did I do?”
“Nothing,” said Remus, all humour fading away. “Harry is a complicated young man. Unlike you, he has grown up having his family split in two. Also, heavy burdens were laid on his shoulders when he was very young.”
Harvey frowned. “Has this got to do with Voldemort?”
Remus cringed at the name. “Somewhat.”
“And what happened when we were little?”
“Possibly. I don’t really know; no one really knows what goes on in Harry’s mind.”
Harvey frowned. “That’s not helpful.”
“What I can tell you is that no matter how he acts, Harry loves you, you’re his little brother, and nothing will ever change that, okay.” Remus placed his hand on Harvey’s shoulder and squeezed.
Harvey nodded his head. He hoped that one day it would be different. The idea of having a proper relationship with his brother was really the only thing he wanted.
“Lunch will be ready soon,” said James as he walked out into the yard.
Harvey sat up and spun around. “Dad, why won’t anyone tell me how I’ll get sorted?” he asked, making sure that his father wouldn’t know that they were talking about Harry. No need to repeat breakfast.
James smirked. “Okay, I’ll tell you.”
Harvey jumped up and smiled wide with excitement.
“Professor Dumbledore will get you to put your right foot in, then your right foot out, and then your right foot in again,” said James
Harvey frowned. “Really?”
James nodded. “Yep, and then you shake it all about.”
Harvey huffed and said, “That’s the hokey pokey, you butt.”
James laughed as Harvey nudged him.
“But really, what happens?”
James slung his arm over Harvey’s shoulders. “Another week, and you will find out. Just be patient.”
Harvey sighed, defeated. “Fine.”
“Go on, go wash up for lunch.” James pushed him towards the door.
Harvey headed inside and glanced over his shoulder to watch as his dad bent down to pick up the discarded brooms. He couldn’t wait till he got to Hogwarts.
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It was getting closer to dinner time, but Harry wasn’t ready to head back to the Potter’s just yet. His mum had linked arms with him, and the two of them had spent much of the morning shopping around Diagon Alley before heading into Muggle London. They ate lunch, went to some bookstores, explored a few different tourist locations before heading back to Godric’s Hollow. They had landed at the apparition point before walking to a small park that was a few streets over from the house. It had been a regular destination when Harry was younger; his mum would bring him and Harvey to play.
Harry hadn’t been back to the park since he was about ten, the same age that he stopped spending every weekend at the Potter’s. Taking a seat on one of the swings, his mum on the other, he couldn’t help but smile as he remembers being pushed when he was younger, begging to go higher and higher because it was almost like flying.
“Today was fun,” said Lily. She was swinging softly, her red hair flying gracefully behind her.
Harry smiled. “It was.”
“I’m glad that it’s still cool to hang out with your mum.”
Harry laughed. “It’s never cool to hang out with your parents.”
Lily gave him a mock frown.
“But then again, I never said I was cool.”
Lily sighed. “One thing I am glad about is that you didn’t inherit your father’s unbreakable ego.”
Harry chuckled.
“That man, no matter what happened, his ego just grew, and he always acted like he was a gift to all.”
“I don’t think that’s changed,” said Harry.
Lily nodded. “Nope. While he has matured, which mostly has to do with you, he still has that stupid smirk around women.”
“Dad is certainly one of a kind.”
Lily smiled. “That he is.”
Lily stopped swinging and reached over to push Harry’s hair out of his eyes.
“I have something to ask you,” she said.
Harry couldn’t help but feel his gut drop. He loved his mother, would do anything she asked, but he didn’t want to have to agree with what she was going to ask. It had been coming since Harvey’s Hogwarts letter had arrived, and he was surprised that his mum hadn’t mentioned it yet, but here it was.
“I know you have your issues with Harvey, and I’m not asking you to play happy family and pretend to be a big brother who is happy to have him around all the time…”
Harry stood from his swing and knelt down in front of his mum. He grabbed her hands and said, “I will keep an eye on him.”
Lily’s shoulders dropped with relief. “Thank you. I just worry that something will happen.”
“I know. Voldemort could still be out there; we all know that. He could be anywhere, and anyone could be helping him,” said Harry.
“Saying it like that makes us sound paranoid,” said Lily.
Harry nodded. “I think that if Voldemort was still capable of doing anything, he would have tried already.” He squeezed his mum’s hands. “Hogwarts is the safest place Harvey could be. Dumbledore is there, Severus too, and I will make sure that he doesn’t do something stupid.”
Lily smiled, and she cupped Harry’s cheeks. “You are the best son I could ask for.”
Harry returned the smile. “Don’t I know it.”
Lily chuckled. “And there is that ego I was talking about.”
Harry joined in laughing before standing up and sitting back onto his swing. He would keep his promise; he would just make sure to do it from a distance.
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