The Boys Who Lived
Chapter 1: Make a Wish Harry
"Harry, WAKE UP!"
Harry Potter, child of prophecy, greeted the new day as his head greeted the hardwood floor. He groaned and rolled onto his back, glaring at the man standing over his head.
James tossed down Harry's bed sheets as he stepped over him and headed for the door. "Breakfast is ready," he called as he stepped out of the room.
It was another few moments for Harry as he lay on his back, only to sit straight up as realization struck. Another few moments while he swapped the clothes he'd slept in for a clean set and grabbed his glasses. Soon he was dashing down the stairs where he found his father shoving the last of his meal into his mouth and moving his plate away from the table.
Breakfast at the Potter house was nothing to brag about, nor were many other meals. Even after a decade of being a single parent James had never bothered learning to cook anything past the 'edible' stage. Still, it was better than starving. Harry slid into his seat and took a few seconds to decide that the mess on his plate was probably supposed to be scrambled eggs before he began eating.
Once finished he tossed his plate into the sink and met his father at the fireplace. James glanced at him before grabbing a handful of powder from the pot at the side and tossing it into the fire he'd just started.
"In you go," he said. "Hurry it up, we've got ten minutes to get to Flourish & Blotts to meet up with Mrs. Longbottom."
"Right," Harry mumbled as he walked up to the green flames. "The Leaky Cauldron," he called out before stepping in.
* * *
Despite his insistence that one shouldn't keep a cranky old witch waiting - his very words - James was the one who pulled Harry aside so that the two could stop and stare into the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. They stood there, admiring the new Nimbus 2000 along with a small crowd of shoppers, for nearly half an hour before they came to their senses and rushed for the bookstore.
It wasn't too difficult to track down the Longbottoms once they entered the store, for Mrs. Longbottom was giving a huge scolding to Neville for losing his new toad somewhere amongst the aisles. James interrupted her with a short cough as she was explaining, in great detail, the shame Neville would bring to their family for that act.
"Ah, James! It's good to see you again!" she exclaimed. She nodded at Harry. "Young Potter's here as well, maybe you can help Neville find his school books...along with some other things." She glared at her grandson as she finished her sentence.
Neville looked glum as he shuffled over to Harry, who was in the process of grabbing a small parchment from his father. The two nodded towards the adults as they moved deeper into the store.
As they moved into the first aisle, Neville's face broke into a huge grin, which Harry mirrored.
"Gran thinks I lost Trevor on accident," he whispered about his toad. "But really when she wasn't looking I tossed him into a cauldron."
"Excellent," Harry whispered back. "Did it belong to anybody?"
"Of COURSE it did, where would the fun be if it didn't!" Neville made a show of glancing at the volumes of books on the shelves, then nodded down the aisle. "Over there, that girl with that huge stack of books."
Harry pulled down two copies of 'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)' and dumped them in the cauldron Neville's gran had bought for him as he sneaked a peek. Since the girl was facing away from them he couldn't see more than a head full of wavy, chestnut brown hair.
Well, there was also the fact that she was hefting a stack of books nearly her height. Harry's mind temporarily froze while he contemplated how someone her size could carry so much.
"Can you believe we're finally going to Hogwarts this year?" Neville said as he pulled down a copy of 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi'. "Gran was so relieved when she got my letter. I think I did TOO good a job pretending to be a squib when I was younger..."
"I never did understand why you kept at it," Harry replied, prying out his own copy from the shelf. "I only wanted to see her reaction once, I didn't mean for you to play dumb for THIS long."
"It's not my fault, I didn't even think she was paying attention!"
"From what my dad says, she doesn't miss much." There was a slight creak as Harry pulled. "Why..." another creak, "is this stupid book not...coming... DOWN!!!"
Neville, who'd been watching, managed to jump away as Harry pulled down the textbook...along with many other books as the shelf gave way. Unfortunately, the girl they'd been watching earlier hadn't noticed as she walked down the aisle. As she peeked around the stack she was carrying to see what had caused the noise, she failed to notice that there was a mountain of books at her feet, and she contributed to the pile as she lost her balance and toppled over with a shriek.
"NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM!!! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!!!"
Neville winced as he turned around and faced his doom. Luckily he had a clever and well thought out escape plan.
He half turned and pointed at the mop of unruly hair that was poking out from the pile. "He did it."
* * *
Harry groaned as he pulled a book off his face. As he glanced at the title he noticed it was one of the books he'd need for school, so he pitched it in the general direction of Neville's cauldron as he turned to watch Neville receive his second lecture in less than an hour.
"Ow!" exclaimed a voice off to the side.
A talking cauldron? Harry thought for a brief moment as he turned his head towards the source. He watched the brown haired girl he'd seen earlier get up on her knees, massaging the top of her head. She turned to glare at him.
"If you would, PLEASE consider the other customers in this store before you decide to go and make a mess!" she said. As she started gathering her books together he stared at her.
After a few attempts at moving the books away to cross the pile she gave an exasperated sigh and rounded on him again. "Well? Could you please at least help? It's only natural to clean up your own messes isn't it?"
Harry still didn't say anything as she glared at him. Her expression changed as she noticed his eyes locked onto hers, which narrowed with suspicion when he held her gaze. Finally her patience must have worn out and she picked up a book and threw it back at him. Pulling a hand free from under the pile he rubbed his forehead as she tromped over to her cauldron.
There was another surprised shriek as Trevor leapt out from his concealment and onto her head, just as he'd been trained. The thudding sound of books falling to the floor returned as she stumbled back against the pile Harry was still buried under. Unfortunately, his laughter was cut short and she turned to face him and he was again treated to the sight of her hazel eyes flashing brightly.
He swallowed as his brain caught up with the situation, especially noting the particularly heavy tome she was hefting in her hand. Fortunately, Neville wasn't the only person adept at getting out of trouble. Harry had many years of squirming out of punishments under his belt, and no matter how angry this girl could be, she'd probably never be a match for Neville's gran.
So Harry flashed her the biggest grin he could muster and lifted his arm with a flourish that came from years of practice.
"He did it," he said, leveling a finger at Neville.
* * *
James returned to Flourish & Blotts with Harry's new school robes under his arm. As he crossed the threshold, he felt a smile tugging at his face as he listened to Neville being scolded off by his grandmother again.
A girl lugging a cauldron filled to the brim with books brushed past him on her way out, and he lifted his package a bit higher to let her pass. A few more steps into the store and he came to the peculiar sight of Harry half buried under textbooks. His glasses were askew and he was rubbing at a quickly reddening patch of his cheek as James walked up.
"Do I want to know?" the elder Potter asked in a reasonably reasonable tone.
Harry glared at him.
* * *
A few quick spells had sorted out the mess in the store, but the store's owner had decided to get in a few choice words to his young customers, so it was nearly lunch by the time the Potters and Longbottoms finally finished their purchasing and left Flourish & Blotts.
The two groups split ways, Neville needing to get his set of robes while James dragged Harry off to get his wand. They promised to meet back at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, then set off to get the rest of their items.
"In you go!" James said as he pushed Harry into Ollivanders. "Stay here until I get back. I still need to get you a late birthday present."
"A Nimbus?" Harry asked excitedly.
"What? Of course not Harry! There'd be no way to smuggle tha...I mean you aren't allowed a personal broom your first year." James grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "Nah I'm thinking of something else...you stay here okay?"
Harry nodded as his father left the shop and strolled out of sight. Looking around he saw hundreds of narrow boxes just on the wall behind in front of him.
"Hello there Young Mister Potter," a breezy voice said. Harry looked up as a wizened old man slipped through the door behind the counter. "I've been wondering when I'd be seeing you..."
* * *
The rest of the day was a blur for Harry. There was his own cauldron to buy, the loot from the day's purchases being sorted between him and Neville. James had returned to Ollivanders bearing a beautiful snowy owl, which Harry had decided to name Hedwig after browsing through his history textbook.
Underneath his arm was his brand new wand. The things Ollivander had said about it had made him breathless for long moments. Neville was using his late father's wand, so he'd not gone to the shop. But Harry...
"Neville," he whispered. The two were sitting at the Leaky Cauldron eating their lunches away from the adults. Harry pulled out his wand. "You remember...well...not remember. But you know about...these right?"
Neville blanched as hairy pulled aside his hair to reveal the lightning shaped scar the two had both sported since before they could remember. He pressed a hand to his own forehead. "How could I forget..."
Harry looked down at his wand again, drawing Neville's attention back. "THIS wand...it's the same type as Voldemort's..."
This time Neville nearly choked on his sandwhich. "HARRY!" he whispered. "Not that I care but what if an adult hears you?"
"I still don't see why they're still scared of saying his name when he got beat up by the two of us before we could walk," Harry scoffed.
"You KNOW that's not what happened," Neville replied. "Harry, just try not to bring it up too loudly. The media finally started to ignore us only a year ago."
"Fine," Harry replaced the wand back in its box. "I just...it feels kind of wierd...having something in common with Him."
"At least you aren't the parselmouth," Neville mumbled. "I still remember when Gran caught us trying to talk to that garden snake you had in your yard...I think my rump remembers it too," he said with a wince.
Harry grinned, but winced as he felt his jaw stretch. "That reminds me, remember that girl at the store?"
"How could I forget? Gran gave me ANOTHER scolding about Trevor." Neville smirked. "But I saw what she did to you. She's got a mean right hook with that book of hers."
Harry glared at Neville before his eyes unfocused again. "I dunno, but you know...before she walloped me..." Harry sighed. "She's only average looking, I guess. But her eyes, Neville. They're like...well....she's kind of cute when she's angry," he finished.
He blinked as he found Neville looking at him like he'd just declared himself to be the next Dark Lord.
"Harry, you're ELEVEN years old. PLEASE don't go all mushy on me now. I'm still eating."
"Oh, sod off," Harry muttered angrily.
"Don't let Gran catch you saying that." Neville warned.
"It kind of reminds me of what my Dad said. About Mum," Harry said. "He said he'd gone clear out of his head the first time he saw her too."
"Oh great, it runs in the family. I hope you never have kids."
"It was her eyes that hooked him too. I remember he told me that. He said they were....they were like shooting stars..."
"Really now," Neville said. He shook his head and grinned across the table. "Well, Harry, the next time you see her why don't you make a wish?"