Twins: A Different Life

The Ride to Hogwarts

It took Harry more effort than he cared to admit or acknowledge to get up off his bed and put his things away. He had forgotten, briefly, that there was no elf to do it for him – usually when he went shopping it was left in the main area of his rooms to be put away for him while he went to lunch/dinner/lesson. Aressa was there to hiss soothingly too him, and he reminded her that she would have to stay hidden while around the Potters. One of the things Merlin was sure to remind him repeatedly was that people saw the gift of Parseltongue as an evil and dark trait. Harry was still outraged over that, even more so because Merlin wouldn't tell him why; something about having to do his research. He was about to continue reading his new potions texts, now even more eager to learn potions with the teacher revealed, when there was a knock at the door and his mother's voice drifted through.

"Harry, it's time for dinner."Harry mentally sighed, dragging himself away from potions and down to the room where they were eating. Harry didn't say a word all through dinner, though he did watch and listen to the interaction of the others. The main topic of conversation, to Harry's great disgust, was his sister and it was basically a retelling of how great she was. And he had been called arrogant? Circe almighty! He didn't even finish his meal, the food left a lot to be desired and he felt his intelligence leaving him the longer he stayed, so he rose to his feet and was all for running back to his bedroom when Lily stopped him.

"Why don't you stay down with us for a bit," She suggested, "It would give us all chance to get to know each other."

"Why would I want to do that?" Harry wondered in confusion, "I am not the one who decided I should be removed from my original family simply because it was decided one child was better than the other." He eyed the three of them disdainfully and then swept from the room, not giving them a chance to respond. He missed Lily's shoulders drooping, not that he cared much, as she murmured words to her husband.

"I knew this wouldn't work."

"I told you, Lils, he'll adjust," James assured, an underlying layer of steel in his voice. Lily dropped back into her chair, her hands coming up to cover her face as she took a few deep breaths. She didn't care what James said, she just knew, deep within her gut, that Harry would never accept them as his family. It was much too late for that, and she knew that they deserved it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time skip brought to you by Lily's common sense ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry had never hated the fact that he was right more than he did at that very moment. Two weeks was a very long time, and by the time September 1st had arrived Harry was ready to call it quits and find his own way back to the Founders time. He had been forced to hibernate in the somewhat dingy room for the best part of a week, which had been absolutely havoc on his normal routine, venturing out to explore the alley some more and braving his family to ask a few questions he was unable to find the answer to himself.The most important one was when he would be introduced to Sirius and Remus again. Harry had been stunned, and rather worried, when he had been informed, sharply and shortly, that the House Potter did not associate with such people as the House of Black. When Harry had slowly pointed out that their grandmother was a Black, he had been glared at until he had left the room by his father; Harry thought that was hilarious. He was very confused though, he didn't know what to expect when he finally did meet his Godfather and uncle again.Merlin had assured him that they cared a great deal about him, and Harry had felt nothing but love and longing from the bond that Merlin had opened, but they were no longer in contact with the Potters; did that mean him too? He would have to wait for them to approach him, just in case, and if they did he would latch on with both hands. Harry went through his trunk once more, making sure everything was secure and he had not left anything behind before shrinking it down and tucking it into his pocket. He had been warned, laughingly, by his father that underage witches and wizards were not allowed to perform magic outside of school. Harry had actually laughed at that, walking away shaking his head; what a ridiculous rule.He moved through the grubby pub, easily finding his 'family' in one of the lounges where he walked in on a conversation involving Rosina excitedly bragging about how much further ahead than everyone else she would be because of her extra training and he couldn't help his snort.