BROTHERHOOD ⟶ Harry Potter

Chapter One

"It takes a whole village to raise a child."

Truer words could not have been spoken, especially when it came to the village of Hogsmeade. When word got around about what had happened to the Potter family on the evening of Halloween, the wizarding world was buzzing. By the end of the next day, everyone had heard about Harry Potter, deeming him the Boy-Who-Lived. Some viewed the child as a savior as the reign of the Voldemort had come to such an abrupt end. Death Eaters were scattering left and right, trying to avoid imprisonment after the fall of their leader. Others held their questions and their doubts as Harry Potter had gone missing during the same night, vanishing from the sight of all those in the wizarding realm. Where he had gone, only a few select witches and wizards were aware of for the safety of the child.

But Harry was not the only one who needed to remain safe and he was not the only one that had been left orphaned the night that Lily and James Potter lost their lives. He wasn't a heroic face among the people of Hogsmeade, but he was a child that had lost so much in such a short amount of time. He needed love and guidance, and together they rallied up the strength to help raise the child in hopes of leading him down the path to success and happiness. Minerva had remained true to her word since the time he was passed into her arms. When she had taken Milo under her guardianship, she had informed Albus that there would be no secrets during Milo's upbringing and she kept her word for the boy's sake. 

However, it was not an easy transition for Milo or for Minerva in the beginning, for the two were very accustomed to different lifestyles, despite Milo only being two years old at the time. The child had grown up as the center of attention of his parents and uncles and even when his brother was born, they were constantly near one of their parents if not both. They were hardly out of their parents' view and when they were, they were left in trusted hands that they had grown up with. Minerva was a stranger to Milo, but he had attached himself to her rather quickly, not liking the feeling of being left alone.  The woman was not used to have someone depending on her in such a way.

Perhaps when she was younger, she had often looked after her younger brothers when her parents had their hands full, but her brothers had long grown up. But Milo wanted to follow her everywhere and be at her side, like a small shadow.  When she tried to leave him to go about her work and all personal matters, the child would throw a fit. But Minerva put a quick end to such behavior, she would not allow him to grow up as a child who turned into a brat when he did not get his way.

Rather than wasting her breath scolding him repeatedly, Minerva decided that in order to get Milo off the idea of having to be held all the time or being the center of attention, she would put him to work. Obviously, she could not force a two-year-old to do perform strenuous activities, but she could give him work that led the child to believe that he was helping. His first task with her was allowing him to rip up old parchment scrolls that she had no use for. While Milo created a massive mess while she worked on grading, he would come up to her and request more to shred, believing that he had more work to do. He would become the Official Scroll Shredder in a short amount of time.

However, Minerva could not bring Milo to the castle with her, it would be ridiculous to have a toddler and a young child running about in the castle while classes were in session.It would not only be distracting to the students but to the professors as well. There had to be more accommodations made and that's when the villagers of Hogsmeade got involved.

It was during his earliest years with Minerva that Milo learned that he enjoyed helping people and it was best for him to put his little skills to use. People like Madam Rosmerta, the Landlady of the Three Broomsticks Inn, offered to help look after the boy. At first, Minerva didn't like the idea of Milo spending the morning and afternoons at the Inn, especially with the pub-like atmosphere, but the boy seemed to enjoy himself. Often times, he greeted customers and visitors when they walked in, and many of them would strike up a conversation with the lad.