Harry Potter and the Destruction of a Home

Hallows' Eve

It was a dark, almost serene night as the luminous moon gleamed and the white twinkling stars sang in perfect harmony with the bright night sky. Gazing apprehensively towards the window, Lillian Jennifer Potter hushed the young child nestled in her arms as she conversed with her husband, who was sitting on the sofa with her other child tucked in the nook of his arm. These children were twins, and the reason the family was in hiding

You see, during a job interview, a young seer had prophesied that a child born at the end of July would be the downfall of the dark lord Voldemort and, of course, both her twins had to have been born on July 31st.

The elder twin — held by Lily — was Charles James-Peter Potter. His tufts of coppery auburn hair gave the illusion that his head was a gentle cascade of flames and his eyes were a deep brown that matched his father's. Unfortunately for his parents, Charles was loud and prone to screaming if he was out of his parents' grasp for more than a few seconds at a time, but in a way, this brought them a sense of relief since they always knew he was alright.

His brother was Harry Remus-Sirius Potter. Harry was an unusually quiet child, which more often than not caused him to be overshadowed by his brother, but nevertheless, his parents never forgot about him. Sure — when they had run out of baby food, Charles had been allowed to eat the last to keep him quiet; and sure when the boys played together and Harry caused the blocks to cycle through the rainbow of colours, his brother was given the credit, but he didn't mind. It was all part of his timid and kind nature.

He had a head full of messy brown hair, and it seemed as though he had been cursed with the Potter family's hair curse. His eyes, however, were a sight to behold. They were brighter green than even his mother's, and the depth behind them made it seem as though he was wise beyond his few months.

Harry was only 4 pounds when he was born.

This caused his godparents to be extremely overprotective of him. Sirius and Remus would visit Potter Cottage almost daily to check on the twins and to play or read with them — Charles preferred being played with, whereas Harry enjoyed being read to. Another difference between the children.

In fact, it was on this particular day that everything changed. Lily was not just gazing out the window — no, she was keeping watch. The new family was not as happy as one would expect, since from the very day that their children were born a target was hung over their heads. You see, Lily and her family lived during a war. And one of her children was prophesied to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who was a dark lord that aimed to purge the world of all muggle (non-magical) blood.

Bang!

It was time. Time for them to initiate their plan. "Lily, take the twins and run. I'll hold him off!" James shouted as he felt the self-proclaimed-lord Voldemort penetrated their wards.

Perhaps the plan would have worked better if they hadn't told the traitor, who had obviously told Voldemort. Or even if James had his wand poised for a duel...

"Stupefy!" Voldemort incanted as he aimed his wand at James Charlus Potter. James fell to the floor unconscious, and Voldemort merely stepped over him and continued on his rampage towards the boys' bedroom.

"Mummy loves you, Daddy loves you." Lily was whispering to the boys. Voldemort sent a silent stunner at her and turned to the young boys.

"Which of you to kill?" Voldemort asked cruelly, "Which of you will be my downfall?"

His eyes flicked between them.

"It's you. I can feel it. Say goodbye to your life now, child. AVADA KADAVRA!"

It wasn't until the green spell rebounded that he realised something was wrong. Feeling his soul force itself from his body, he screamed and cast a powerful bombarda, causing the ceiling to collapse and jagged window fragments to shatter upon the children.

All was silent.

Voldemort was dead. Lily and James were unconscious. Charles had, somehow, slept through the attack, and Harry was quickly slipping into unconsciousness.

Both Charles and Harry were unfortunate enough to have a small scar, one from the killing curse and one from the ceiling collapse. Charles's was a small V-shaped scar on the left side of his cheek, but Harry's was a lightning bolt shaped scar on the left side of his forehead, almost completely obscured by his hair.

"Lily! Are you okay?" James yelled as he ran into his twin-boys' room.

He was relieved to see his wife stirring, "Yes James, I'm fine. It was just a stunner. The boys? Where are my babies?" Lily cried, jumping to her feet.

"We need to contact Albus, so that he can tell us which of them defeated him." She grabbed Charles before James reached out for Harry. "They're both alive!"

"Lily? James? Are you alright?" Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore's voice questioned, alerting the two to his presence and waking Charles, causing him to wail pitifully and Harry to turn over in his father's arms and nearly fall, only saved by lightning-quick seeker reflexes. "It seems to me that young Charles is the one to have vanquished Voldemort as he has a 'V' shaped scare on his cheek. Whereas Harry was simply hit by a jagged piece of glass."

"Oh my dear Charles! He's so amazing!" She reached out to James, "James, put the brat down and look at Charles. We need to ensure that the media discover Voldemort's death! For this is our chance to become famous and wealthy, and give our hero anything he could ever desire!"

James discarded his youngest son upon the few remaining shards of his cot in order to embrace his wife and elder son.

"Oh but Lily whatever shall we do with the brat? Will we be able to properly care for Charlie if he is around?" James queried, "Perhaps we should send him to your sister to care for?"

And in some universes perhaps they would.

"It will do young Charles good to see how a normal child is treated and how he deserves so much better than them. Perhaps you should have a stronger hand in discipline towards young Harry but ensure that both boys believe it to be perfectly normal. This will enable Charles to have a better understanding of his importance." Professor Dumbledore reminded them, "Young Charles will need to know how famous and important he is to the wizarding world."

And so they kept their younger son. In this universe perhaps it would have been more humane to have given him away rather than subject him to a constant fear of his family.

Harry gazed at his family with large, hopeful eyes. He didn't understand why they were fussing over his brother while seemingly forgetting about his existence, but rather than worrying over what could be nothing, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

Little did young Harry know that this was going to be the turning point, the sense of pride he had seen in his parent's eyes would never be fixed upon him, and while his brother would be doted on, he would be forgotten but for a few moments when he would be abused.

No more than five minutes later, two frantic men burst into the room. These men were Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, who were immediately accosted by Lily, who demanded they look at 'her precious Charles' but they still took the time to ensure that Harry was alive and well, and Sirius even clutched him close to his body. Relishing in the warmth of the bundle he was holding, Sirius informed the frantic parents that The Daily Prophet was printing a special evening edition detailing the news of Voldemort's defeat and were looking for an interview.

"Really? However did the news get out?" James inquired, "Professor Dumbledore only just told us the news ourselves! We must depart for the ministry immediately to speak with Rita Skeeter, for she is the only journalist to be trusted with this news."

He snatched Harry from Sirius and almost flew through the door of the house with Lily (holding Charles) trailing behind him at a much more sedate pace. But just as they were about to apparate to the Ministry of Magic to meet with the department that dealt with news and media, Lily realised that she couldn't apparate with the saviour of the wizarding world since widespread exposure to magic was thought to be unhealthy for young children.

"I'll have to find a fireplace to floo James. It's not safe to apparate with a child and we need to look out for Charlie now as the public will have their eyes on us. We can't let them think we are abusing him! They might try and take him away! You go ahead with the brat and start without us."

With a sharp jerk of his head, James Potter twisted on his heels and disapperated, uncaring of the fact that he was still holding his younger son.