Hadrian Severus Potter

Chapter 3

I am so sorry I didn't update last week. I will be able to get the next chapter out this weekend though.
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July 31, 1991

Lily, James and Charles were all sitting at the table after breakfast waiting for Charles's letter to arrive. Charles was currently boasting about the fact that he will 'obviously be in Gryffindor'. James was having a blast talking to Lily about how amazing his son's birthday party was yesterday. Lily was nodding along but, as usual, she had a nagging feeling that she was... forgetting something. Something important. She racked her brain as to what it could be, but she turned up empty handed. She then shook it off as something that could be dealt with later.

Harry was standing in the shadows of the doorway, watching silently. He wondered what life would be like if Voldemort hadn't decided to come and try to kill him. He then shook off the notions, something he noticed he was doing a lot of recently, and went back to his room. He sat on his bed and summoned a Sickle coin to float and mess around with. He then heard a tapping sound at his window. When he saw an owl holding his Hogwarts letter, he felt a small smile creeping up onto his face. He opened the window and let it in, relieving it of its burden. It flew around his room for a bit before settling down into his desk, clearly waiting for a reply. He opened his letter and read through it.

He quickly penned a response and sent the owl along. He then sat down, contemplating on how he'd get to Diagon Alley and the Platform. He knew he probably wouldn't be able to go with his so-called 'family', so he resolved to ask his godfather to take him to Diagon while Uncle Sirius or Uncle Remus could take him to the Platform. He put the letter on his desk and went to the library. What he wasn't expecting on the way, however, was a scream from the living room downstairs. He froze and stood there for a second or two, then went down to see what was going on. Of course, he didn't just waltz in, he stood in the shadows. He saw James and Charles there, looking worried.

"Lily what's wrong? I heard your scream from upstairs!" James cried. Lily looked at him with a smile and tears coming down her face. Charles looked at her as if she grew another head. She took a white stick out of her pocket and handed it over to James wordlessly. Harry looked a bit closer and realised what it was with a start. James looked at it, dumbfounded. Then he picked Lily up and twirled her around, laughing and crying. Charles just stood there, looking confused and wondering what was going on. James and Lily settled down and James said to him,

"Charles, you're going to be a big brother soon!"

Charles looked even more confused.

"Why? You already have me, why do you want another kid?"

James and Lily looked at each other, then back at Charles.

"I promise Charles, you will love your sibling. Just you wait!" Lily exclaimed.  Charles looked unsure, but nodded anyway.

Meanwhile, Harry looked on, his heart glowing with joy. He hoped he would be able to play with the kid when he came back from Hogwarts. A small part of him was worried though. What if this one forgets about me as well? Even worse, what if I don't reach out in time for the kid to know me? Then he shook off the thoughts vehemently. He would approach the child and play with them when no one is around. He would tell the kid when they were old enough to understand why he has to do it in secret.

A thought struck him suddenly, but he has absolutely no idea what in Merlin's name caused it to be triggered.

What's in the storage room?

He really doesn't know what brought it on, but he decided to go anyway. He had a few things he took from there anyways, so he thought, why not? Besides, it was fun to look around in there. So he went upstairs and found the storage room. He opened the door and he felt it seemed... different somehow, as if someone was here recently, someone that was not him. He looked around and saw a bunch if things that definitely were not there when he was here last. He went to the back and saw something he did not expect to see in a magical household at all.

An instrument.

It was a bit odd looking, like those muggle guitars he saw in the muggle books that his godfather sometimes brought with him. Except instead of six strings, it had three. It had an animal skin cover on the base and an odd chip. It fit into his whole hand. He saw a paper label on it and read it after taking it off.

"Shamisen. I wonder how it sounds," He said aloud. He picked it up and stuck a few chords on it. He blinked and smiled inwardly, deciding that he liked it. He looked and saw a case that was obviously meant for the instrument. He opened it up and saw a book in it. Instructions, he realised. He put the shamisen in with the book and closed the case, carrying it by the handle. He took it up to his room and closed the door, putting up wandless silencing charms so that his parents and Charles wouldn't hear him. He read though the instructions and identified the parts before beginning to play it. The chip was called a Bachi apparently. The three sticks on the top were called legs and they were used for tuning the shamisen (see cover of book for a clear picture). He quickly tuned it and played a beginner song on it called Rokudan.

At first he was a bit slow on it, but due to that wonderful memory he has he got it down to a good speed after a few tries. He put it back into its case after he got it at a performance speed, grinning. I'm gonna enjoy playing this. Now he had two options to pick from for when he got bored: play his shamisen or read.

He decided that he would ask Uncle Sev if they could go to Diagon Alley tomorrow. He wanted to go when there want too much of a rush.