Since I already gave the identity of the Al Bhed language, the one Darius tends to use, I have decided to just replace it with :this:. It's easier on me to do it this way verses physically spelling out every letter. Although when the situation calls for it, I will use straight Al Bhed but reading before and after it will provide a rough gist of what he's saying. And it's probably going to be something rude as well.
If anyone is confused, please ask me to clarify.
Speaking of which, I'll clarify some things now.
Yes, Jonathan is the older twin of Harry, who is DARIEN, not Darius. I know it might have thrown people off with him being the twin of Damien but there is a reason for that, trust me. It also ties into why Jonathan didn't recognize him as his lost twin. I'll explain more about that in the story as it progresses.
Yes, the whole wizarding world believes Johnny is the Boy-Who-Lived but Darien is the REAL BWL, don't worry.
Yes, James and Lily are alive. (Didn't anyone wonder why Umbridge was just the theoretical DADA teacher?)
Stupid Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize except the plot, Jonathan, Damien, and Darius.
***
That next morning was especially tense for all those involved. Luckily though, the first was on a Saturday meaning that classes wouldn't start until tomorrow. It would give those that need it a chance to cool down.
The four boys were already waiting downstairs in the common room, each wearing their own particular style of clothing. Darien, in casual blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt, was pacing up and down in anxiousness at the bottom of the stairs going towards the girls' dorms while Darion, in leather black pants and a silk green button-up shirt, tapped his foot impatiently. Many of the girls that passed him did a double take and it wasn't hard to see why.
Even despite the fact that his clothes were moderately simple, the air of aristocracy that he held around himself made him eye candy for every girl's daydream fantasies. Darius was decidedly as plain as Darien with only a pair of slacks, a wife beater, and a blue button up shirt; Neville had decided to go with his casual robes. He was still a pureblood after all.
Darien was still pacing and only stopped when Hermione appeared, wearing pants and a cream blouse, before an unnaturally livid Damien. She wore baggy blue jeans, a tight long-sleeved red shirt, and a black choker around her neck with a silver buckle. If not for her shades, they were sure her glance would cause death to any unfortunate enough to get in her way. Her twin ran up to her in relief.
"Damien? What happened?" he asked in a troubled tone, placing his hands on the sides of her arms, pinning them to her side. Darion sighed in a well-worn and tired way before crossing his arms over his chest in disdain.
"Who did what when and why?" he questioned in a bored tone.
"I'm gonna kill `em! Little bitches tried to take off my glasses! Granger walked in before they could fully finish and then they ran like the cowards they are!" Her friends seemed to know what that meant because they started looking around for the other two fifth year girls, Parvati and Lavender, angrily. However, Hermione and Neville did not and sought to rectify that situation.
"What's so special about your glasses?" she asked curiously. Damien turned to her, getting ready to rip the clueless girl a new one when she remembered that she really didn't know. With a deep sigh, she calmed herself and leaned her head against her brother's chest. He gave her a final squeeze and released her arms, placing his hands instead on her shoulders.
"I was born with an ultra sensitivity to light. Most amounts of light will momentarily blind me and hurt like fuckin' hell on top of that. Even if I see light through my eyelids, I'd be in a world of pain. My glasses are magically charmed to block out all light and to keep them on my face, for the most part. However, they can still be magically summoned, which is what those two little bitches tried to do to me. They're lucky you walked in to stop them. If not…" Darion chuckled hollowly.
"You would have blown them to kingdom come and only on the first day too. I'm impressed Damien, really I am." She glared at him, although naturally, he didn't see it but that didn't change the fact that he still felt it fully.
"Stop riling her up. I'm sure you remembered what happened last time." The platinum blond cringed and she smirked at him in a satisfied way. Only to have that smirk turn into a slight snarl when she looked behind the boy, for coming down the stairs was Potter and his entourage. Darien turned around when he felt her tense up.
Damien, move Hermione over to Neville, out of the way. Darius on their right, Darion on the left.
They did as he ordered, subtly moving the pieces of the makeshift chessboard to his specifications.
Jonathan glowered at Darion, giving him an evil look that really did nothing to the boy.
"I thought I told you to get the hell outta my tower." Darion looked him up and down before scoffing.
"You make it sound as if I am to obey you. Hell, I barely give Darien that kinda respect." It was untrue of course but Johnny didn't need to know that. The boy sneered and shoved past him before walking over to Darien, trying to stare him down.
It didn't work.
"Actually you are. Everyone else does." Hermione scoffed from next to Damien.
"I don't." He glanced sharply at her.
"And neither do I," added Neville in one of his rare backbone moments. Jonathan looked slightly taken aback before he made an exaggerated motion with his hand. Clumsily, six wands tried to snap out at the others but Darien looked at the wand in his face curiously before looking at its bearer.
"Go ahead. I dare you. But I'd suggest you take a look around first."
While he had been arguing with Darion then Darien followed by being distracted by Hermione and Neville, the others had moved into flanking positions around them, completely surrounding the Dream Team, fists at the ready. Even Hermione and Neville had joined in with their wands. Parvati gripped Jonathan's arm hard and hid slightly behind him. The two grunts Seamus and Dean didn't know what to do, which was how they were most of the time anyway, and Ron was looking from their enemies to Jonathan and back again, obviously waiting for direction.
"And I thought you actually knew what you were doing. Had this been a real fight, you would have already been dead." Darien waved Jonathan's wand carelessly back and forth. The boy started. He hadn't even felt it being pulled from his hand!
"Or I can handle that now," added Damien with a growl at Parvati and Lavender, who were suddenly more clingy to their boyfriends than usual. The common room was silent as most of the Gryffindors had already gone down to eat and the ones who hadn't merely walked by without a word. The skill of keeping one's head down and out of trouble was one quickly learned. Fortunately, everyone was distracted from killing one another by the arrival of another girl.
"Excuse me," she said. "You're in the way." Two petite hands appeared on the chests of Darien and Jonathan and pushed them apart so she could walk through. Looking at the girl in surprise, Darien's breath caught in his throat painfully.
She was about five feet tall, give or take a few inches. Sleek red hair cascaded down to just past her shoulders and rippled as she pushed a stray strand behind her ear. Forest green eyes glared at Jonathan as she walked past in her jeans and red jumper. Hermione recognized her first.
"Cody! There you are! I was wondering where you were last night for the feast." She grinned impishly and shrugged her shoulders.
"I was running a slight fever and Poppy thought it best for me to stay for the night. You know how she is." By now she had walked forward and already given her friend a hug. "Lo Nev. How are you?"
He gave her a smile. "Been better. But not too bad for the beginning of the year."
"Yeah."
"Aren't you missing something Athena?" hissed Jonathan. The red head, who looked astonishingly like Lily Potter, turned around and smirked.
"Yes actually. Who are you four?" Damien was looking at her in slight shock before her face broke out in a grin.
"I like her already," she stated.
"Sorry Cody, these are four Japanese transfers that arrived yesterday. Guys, and girl, this is my best female friend Athena Potter."
"Yes, I'm related to that jackass over there. But please, call me Cody."
"Yo. I'm Damien, that idiot over there is Darion-"
"I resent that!"
"And I don't care. Anyway, that's Darius and the last is my twin, Darien." Darion, who had been observing their black haired leader ever since the girl appeared, strode over, and grabbed him by his elbow. He plucked the wand from his hand and threw it back at its owner.
"Please forgive me for being rude, however I do believe it's time for breakfast. Coming?" He none too gently pulled their boss out the door. Shrugging, Damien followed with Darius.
***
"What the fuck is wrong with you Darien?" he grumbled, the fair-faced aristocrat rolling his eyes. Their leader stayed silent and still in shock as they walked down the corridor, making their way to the stairs. They deliberately bypassed all of the shortcuts Hermione and Neville had mentioned the other night. Damien nudged her twin.
"Nii-san (older brother)?" He blinked a few times before wincing slightly.
"It's just that…I didn't expect to see her so soon. Out of all of my damnable family, she is the only one I don't have a grudge against. She never ignored me like my parents and uncles. She never acted superior like my brother. She just smiled at me until someone came and took her away. It hurts a bit, you know?" His tone was decidedly melancholy and miserable. Darius placed a hand on his shoulder.
":It's alright my ototo (younger brother), we understand. We're your family now, remember? Besides, I don't like your twin.:" Darien only grinned a bit and stood up straighter, feeling better already.
"And you think I did?" he scoffed and crossed his arms in a huff. "I didn't like him then and I sure as hell don't like him now. He's even more of a bastard than I remember."
"But there is one thing I like about this place," interrupted Damien before they got too far into that particular conversation. It was sure to make all of them hate the Potter boy even more.
They had just come to stop at the top of the staircase. Glancing around they could see the main network of Hogwarts stairs, everything in motion, never stopping for more than a few moments. There were students everywhere, appearing from behind tapestries when they thought no one was watching, getting on, jumping off, and pouting when they didn't make it. But looking down revealed they were quite a ways up and directly above the main corridor to the Great Hall.
She smirked widely and withdrew a small oval piece of metal out of her pocket, no bigger than her hand. Murmuring `kai', it expanded out to about four feet long, two feet wide and about five centimeters thick. The silver gleamed in the sunlight that filtered in from all the windows, reflecting her smirk. Darion shook his head.
"Must you?" he asked with a whiny tone. In reply, she placed the metal on the ground and stepped on it firmly, special sticking charms gluing her feet to the board. Placing a hand on the rail that barely came above her naval, she launched herself over the side, going completely upside down for a moment, her remaining hand on the board to make sure it stuck. She cried out "BONZAI!" and startled the people on the level beneath them as she surfed through the air, bouncing off the staircases, and showering everyone with sparks, her maniacal laughter filtering back up to them. Darien grinned. There were just some days he truly loved his twin.
"Of course." He followed his sister over the side, whooping in delight. Darion turned to the last member, trying to rally some type of support.
Why am I the only sane one?
"Is it safe to assume you're going too?" The boy smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
":Race you to the bottom!:"
***
On the ground, the Gryffindor trio was just reaching the Hall for breakfast when a cry above caused them to look up.
"Watch out!" They jumped to the side as Damien landed loudly on the ground in a crouch, her metal board making a satisfying clap against the stone floor. They and a few others were just standing up when the other three appeared, one after the other.
"That was wicked," she said in awe as she looked up at the distance she had just fallen. "I am so going to the top and coming all the way down." Darius chuckled at her.
":Tell me when you're going to do that. I'd like to come as well.:" He tapped his board with his hand and muttered, `daichi', causing it to shrink again before he put it in his pocket. The others mirrored his actions.
"Still think it was a waste?" asked Darien as they walked into the Great Hall and seated themselves where they were at last night. Darion shrugged.
"It was…okay." He received a slap for that comment. Hermione, Neville, and Cody sat down in front of them, identical looks of shock on their faces.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Cody screeched quietly. Damien grinned at her over their bento breakfasts.
"Having some fun. You tell me you've been here for going on five years and you've never done that? The wind whipping through your hair as the adrenaline pumps through your blood, making you feel alive." Darion just waved her off.
"Don't mind Damien, she's an adrenaline junkie. Trying to get her fix for the day." She glowered at him and the clueless Gryffs got the feeling that the barb went a little deeper than intended.
"I can think of worse ways to `get a fix'. Can't you?" she sneered. Darion opened his mouth to snap back but was interrupted by the peacekeeping Darius.
":I seem to remember you being the same way before-:" He was cut off as the boy in question threw a piece of his breakfast fish at him. Darius merely caught it in his mouth happily. ":I can't believe you'd waste kaa-san's food like that!:"
"I can, he has always been rather childish," added Darien and soon, all four of them were in some type of argument that only they understood since they were all talking in Japanese. Hermione took the time to really observe the new students while they weren't paying too much attention.
Darion was obviously the more down-to-earth one and the main party pooper. He vaguely reminded her of one of the school board members, Lucius Malfoy, but as far as she knew, the Malfoy's didn't have a son and their daughter was scheduled to start Hogwarts next year. Darion's face was more rugged than Malfoy's and besides; his ever-present smirk didn't give off that superior air like most of the other Slytherins did. His cheekbones were rather high and his eyes slightly angled, proof of his Japanese heritage.
Looking at them all, she realized that they all looked in some way related to Darius, although he was the only `pure' Japanese looking one; the other three all had a Euro/Anglo-Saxon look about them.
Darius took the role as mediator as far as she could tell. He sided with Damien a lot more than any of the others however. He was quiet and shy but walked with the air of someone who was secure in themselves and their abilities. Also, she mused, his silence might only be because he didn't speak English rather than just being quiet.
Darien and Damien were the real mysteries though. It was obvious that they all had some Asian blood but she looked more Russian or Bulgarian than European. He reminded her of Professor Evans-Potter, albeit a more masculine one. Damien was the main party starter with her collaborates either being Darius or her twin, usually the former. She laughed a lot more than any of them and seemed rather laid back. She also argued a lot with Darion but that seemed more like a game she liked to play than anything else.
Darien was clearly the leader, that much was painstakingly evident. The others always stepped aside whenever he walked up or had something to say. It brought to mind the image of a wolf pack cowering before the alpha male. But most of the time, he didn't act that way, usually diverting the command up to his sister. They also looked frighteningly alike for twins, damn near identical if it wasn't for the fact that they had different color hair and Damien's inability to remove her glasses.
"Um…excuse me…" said Neville, breaking off Hermione's train of thought and stopping the argument that was steadily getting louder. The six looked at him in surprise and even he seemed a little shocked at his own boldness.
"Yes?" asked Darien, raising an eyebrow. The boy swallowed nervously and pointed over their shoulders. All of them looked up into the face of Lily Evans-Potter. Emblazoned on her robes was the Head of Gryffindor House crest. Darien tensed up a bit however it went unnoticed, save by his sister who was literally pressed up against him. Their green-eyed head of house peered down on them with a motherly smile.
"Hello you all. Morning honey," she added sweetly to Cody, who turned back around and scowled viciously at her plate. "Since tomorrow is the start of school it was decided that we'd give out your schedules now. Also, Headmaster Dumbledore has set up your rooms just down the corridor from the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. It's behind the painting of Kise Watanabe the Wild," she smiled at the little joke. "He thought you'd like a familiar face for your guard. He had it flown in from-"
"Our school, we know," cut in Darion, feeling the unease bashing against his mental shields in waves. Professor Evans, to make it simpler on the students, frowned a bit but nevertheless shut her mouth, and handed out the pieces of parchment.
"Other than that, I'm your head of house Li-"
"Mrs. Lily Evans-Potter, wife of James Potter for sixteen years, theoretical Charms professor while your husband teaches practical Defense Against the Dark Arts. You are the mother of Jonathan Potter, the (*scoff *) Boy-Who-Lived, his dead twin Harry Potter, and Athena Potter. Correct?" interrupted Damien with a sick smirk. Darien ducked his head, lest anyone see the relief and gratitude on his face and call him on it.
It's harder than I thought it would be…facing my mother after all this time…He felt a comforting thought brush across his mind and smiled, placing a hand on his sister's thigh as she straddled the bench. She placed her hand over his own and squeezed it gently.
Lily seemed more than simply taken aback that these…children knew so much about her and her family. Of course, she was too stunned to realize that most of what was spoken was common knowledge to the known magical community. Just because they were halfway around the planet did not mean they were blacked out from said world. Instead, she gathered up what remained of her pride and took off in the other direction, passing out the other schedules.
Damn woman, remarked Darion with a sneer. His leader sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder tiredly.
Don't worry about it. The situation is only going to get harder the more we address it. Darius sent him a piercing stare.
:You're sure?: Darien nodded, his head still down and as such, failed to notice the other two males nodding towards his sister, who nodded back. The atmosphere was unnaturally tense and was only broken by Hermione's cry.
"Oh look, the owls are in." Many of the other students noticed this as well and looked up as flapping wings brought their mail. A common brown owl dropped a letter in front of Darien before snatching a piece of bacon from Darion's hand and flying away.
"What's it say?" asked Damien. He unfolded it and allowed his eyes to flash across and down the page quickly. It was written in Japanese.
"It's from kaa-san (mom) and tou-san (dad). They hope we're having a good start and not picking any fights. Kaa-san specifically recommends we stick to the credo she's been drilling into our heads for as long as she can remember. Oh and to make sure Damien doesn't burn the school down," he replied with a smile.
Truthfully, it's the class roster for this year and the next. A total of twenty-seven hopefuls.
:Actually, we can take the Hufflepuffs off; I saw no potential there.:
Alright, twenty-two then.
"HEY! Can they ever let that go?" groaned Damien, hitting her head on the table repeatedly, more than simply miffed at the situation. Cody looked curiously over at Darion.
"What happened?" He snorted.
"Some kid pissed her off when we were practicing fire spells. Needless to say, the spell went awry and ended up burning down part of the school. The section we were in is, or rather WAS, made of wood. They changed the material when they rebuilt it." He laughed. The girl brought her head up and was about the throttle the idiot when Neville asked, "So what classes do you all have?"
"Let me see," commanded Hermione, holding out her hand. They handed over their schedules without a care. "For the most part we all have the same things only after our first classes, some of you have free periods or are with Neville and I in one of our extra classes." She handed them back before returning to her breakfast. Darius voiced what they were all thinking as they all looked at their schedules properly for the first time.
:You can't be serious…:
Unfortunately, yes, grumbled Darien. Every single day included at least one reminder of his long discarded past. Damien draped her arm across his chest and leaned into him, patting his knee comfortingly. "I know how you feel nii-san; we've got that damn Umbridge woman every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday." And indirectly, Professor Potter as well.
Ouch. Sucks to be you. At least my past only haunts the Ministry. And the school when the fetish seizes him.
"Ugh, don't remind me," he replied.
"Wait a minute. Aren't you younger than Potter?" asked Darion of Cody. The girl shoved a piece of sausage down her throat before answering.
"Yeah, but thankfully, I've inherited my mother's lovely genes of intelligence so I was skipped up a grade."
"I'll bet Potter didn't like that." She scoffed with a smirk.
"Hell no. His little sister is essentially as smart, or smarter, than he is? Pssh! It made me laugh so hard when he realized that I was joining him for the train ride to Hogwarts. He had been a real git just moments before and then mom told him what was really going on. I couldn't stop laughing. However, the bastard made it really hard to make any decent friends. Then I met Hermione and Neville here." She threw her arms around their necks and drew them closer, grinning like an idiot.
"And I'm pretty sure Merlin turned over in his grave afterwards," added Hermione with a similar grin. Cody mock glared and kissed her on the forehead.
"You love me anyway."
"We do?" asked Neville with a smile.
"Why? The reason still eludes me entirely. I could love other people."
"But none of them are as fun as me?"
"I bet I could fight you for that title," said Damien idly as her last of fish found its way into her mouth. Cody grinned as she released her friends.
"And I'd give it to you, after that stunt a little while ago. What the bloody hell was that anyway?"
"A simple metal board, a rechargeable sticking charm, and no regards to personal safety. But seriously, don't do that before you've learned how to surf and how to board. Don't want anyone breathing down my neck about being irresponsible if you happen to hurt yourself, kay?"
"But that looks like fun!" she whined.
"It is, but you can do the same with a broom. That's how I learned anyhow," interjected Darion.
":Speaking of flying, that sounds like a good way to spend the day.:"
"You're right. Let's go. What are you three doing for the rest of the day?" asked Darien.
"Reading," Hermione immediately popped out.
"Sleeping," said Cody at the same time.
"Whatever they tell me to?" The three looked at one another and started laughing.
"I guess nothing then," gasped Cody after a moment.
"We're going flying, would you like to join us?" Hermione went pink.
"You guys go on ahead, I'm going to go and study." Before she fully got away, two hands reached forward and pulled her down again.
"Uh huh. You're comin' with us, whether you like it or not."
"Most likely not," added Neville. Flying was one of his favorite hobbies and he'd even be on the Quidditch team, if Jonathan wasn't.
"Merlin save me."
***
"I'm worried about Jonathan and Athena, Albus. Who knows what those students are really here for," said Lily, sipping her tea as she, her husband, his best friends, and the Headmaster sat in his office, discussing their rather unusual arrivals.
"Yeah, what are they here for anyhow? I don't remember anything about an exchange program," burst out Sirius, tapping his finger on the edge of his knee impatiently. Remus rolled his eyes at him.
"Calm down Paddy. Getting edgy is not going to make this any easier," he chided. The mutt growled at him but didn't say anything.
"Now Lily-love, why are you worried? We've all been training Johnny since he was seven and Athena is no fool. They'll be fine," added James, waving his hand in dismissal. Albus smiled benignly at them.
"Actually James, she has good reason to be worried. Graduates that come from that particular school are very well wanted in almost every aspect of the magical world. They produce the best duelists, the best teachers, the best of basically everything. You name it and there is a very good chance that they have a master of it. They are also extremely selective of who they allow in."
"If its so good, how come we haven't heard anything about it before?" asked Remus, ever the scholar.
"Because, the school itself is borderline dark. Britain does not allow information about it to reach students because they may want to find a way to go to the school. That and they are secretive and paranoid to the point where it makes Moody look calm and relaxed. No one knows much of anything, except that its alumni are very valuable."
"So where were they during You-Know-Who's first rise?" blustered Sirius, slamming his fist on the table. "If they're as good as you say, where the hell were they?" Albus smiled sadly.
"They fought. Do not mistake that. The war would have been twice as hard had they not been there, killing the Death Eaters left and right. Since most of them are not British, they basically had diplomatic immunity in the time of war. They were as underhanded as the Death Eaters except they were more successful at walking away without causalities. After Johnny defeated Voldemort," he paused to let the shudder pass, rolling his eyes inwardly. "They disappeared. One of them, or who I assumed to be their leader, approached me and said, `Do not perceive this as us helping you. If Voldemort would have won, we would have had to appear en masse. That is something we cannot allow,' and walked away."
"So they're more or less concerned only with the secrecy of their school?" asked Lily. He nodded.
"It's probably what's kept them hidden for so long," said James.
"But we're still back to square one. What the hell do we do with them?" interrupted Sirius.
"Hmm…well, I'm certain that they aren't graduates so they're probably not that skilled. So I believe its safe to say that tomorrow in class, have them duel against some of our own. Not only does it show us where they are, it shows how we compare to them. We need that insight just in case we have to face them in the future." The four gave each other subtle looks.
"Professor, how can you be so sure that they aren't dangerous or graduates?" asked Remus.
"Because, all graduates receive tattoos or some type of marking upon graduating. The tattoos are always in a visible place, their pride I guess. Looking them over, I could see none. So it's safe to assume they're not at a level where we should worry." He smiled at them, his eyes twinkling full blast. They nodded to him and after murmuring various things, departed. Once the door was closed, the smile and mask of a kind, lovable grandfather fell and was replaced with a cool, calculating look.
He stood up and walked over to the window, where he could see anything outside. He clasped his hands behind his back and scowled as he noticed the four Tatakai no Maho Gakko students flying around with the three banes of Gryffindor: Longbottom, Granger, and Potter.
It is too bad I lost her. She would have been a very good ally, he mused as he watched the female Potter attempt to assist Granger on her broom. It did not help that the others were doing crazy stunts all around her and her fear of heights was kicking in harder than a hippogriff. He scoffed. Silly girl. A mind like hers hasn't been seen since Lily was in school. Ah well, the other pieces are in place anyway. Potter, albeit the dumber one, is progressing at my desired pace, his parents and friends are still putty waiting to be molded. Ah…I wish I could have the other boy though. What was his name again…Harry. Yes, I would have loved to have had him. He saw right through me the first time I held him when he was barely a year old. And such power! HE would have been a better tool, if it were not for the fact that he did not trust me. It is obvious he spread that to his sister as well. I could have sworn I told James to keep Harry separated from the other two…probably Lily's interference. If only for her mind and control over the Marauders, she would already be dead. Oh well. I'll learn more tomorrow, I suppose…
***
I hope I didn't make Johnny too Slytherin-like. I have always held the belief that Gryffindors and Slytherins were almost identical except that Slytherins like to think before they act, are slyer, and always put their own health above others. Please tell me what you think.
Yes Dumbledore will be a manipulative old bastard. Personally, there are too many discrepancies with Harry's life for him to just play it off as `for your own good.' So, tell me what you think of my mani-Dumbledore.
Does he need to be slyer? More crafty? Subtler?
What do you think of Athena? Should she be calmer? More energetic? I'll be tweaking the characters as I go along and would like some help with that so this story doesn't end up one big cliché.
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