FicWad

A/N: Hey, sorry for such a long drought. Writers block and end of the school year stuff. Trust me, teachers have more to do than kids at the end of the year. This is just a short one to kind of get me going again, kinda sappy, but it flows with the story. I don't own HP and it is only JKR's playground.

An Era Gone By

The wind whipped through Harry’s black hair as he fell towards another reality. He studied the rivers closer and noticed that there was a stretch of water immediately after the tell tale juncture of his birth where many of the rivers ran together. Harry thought that it would have to be the small window of time before that damned Halloween so many years ago. After talking with Molly in the last jump he realized that he really wanted to know his family. He angled himself towards those rivers. If he was honest with himself, he knew he already had a chance to get to know his parents once before. But, to him that reality was not really his parents. It was a vicious deviation of reality.

The splashdown occurred and Harry found himself in a warm and tight embrace. There was a warm blanket wrapped tightly around his body and he smelled lilacs and perfume. Harry simply kept his eyes closed as he enjoyed the smells and feeling of home. He let a little smile cross his face as he felt a nice breast in his mouth and began sucking.

His mind screamed, “WAIT!!!!!” his eyes flew open to see a breast as large as his head pressed against his face. His eyes traveled up the body to see his mother’s smiling face peering down towards him. He released the nipple and began fighting against his mother’s hold.

“Shhhh....” Lily Potter cooed, “It’s ok.” Harry looked down at his body and saw that he was probably nearing one year old. “Here let me burp you.” Harry felt his body flung to one side of her naked torso and she began patting his back on a steady pace.

Harry began talking in his mind, “ooohhhhhhmmmmmyyyy whyyy iss sheee doiinnggg thiss doessss shheeeee reallllizzzzeeee that thiiissss issss a baddddd ideaaaaa...” that was the exact moment he felt his mother’s milk making a reappearance. The liquid shot out of his mouth and fell onto the burp cloth that she used to cover her shoulder. Harry looked at the mixture and swore that he would never let Ginny breast feed another of his children.

“There we go...” Lily cooed again. “Now, let’s see if you’re still hungry.”

Harry began struggling and mentally screaming, “NOOOO!!! I’m Not going tooo....” Her breast was once again thrust into his mouth. “Shit!”

“Come on honey...” Harry began pulling away from the tit only to look into his mother’s eyes. “Baby, you’re still too young to be weaning yourself...”

A deeper voice chimed through the living room, “Lils, I told you it’s about that time. My boy isn’t a titty baby any longer.”

Harry looked up to see his father’s face come into view over his mum’s shoulder. Harry’s inner voice screamed once again, “Yes!!! Listen to the man!! He’s a right knowledgeable old man, he is! He knows what I want....”

“He’s not even a year old yet, James.”

“He will be in a week.”

“James, you just don’t understand...” a tear began forming in the corner of her eyes, “This is just one more step that he makes away from me...” she hugged Harry tighter and sniffed, “I’m not ready for him to do that.”

Talk about a major guilt trip. Harry looked up to his dad, who was horribly out of focus. He didn’t know if it was because of his bad eyesight or because he was still a baby, but either way he could barely make out his dad’s face. Harry decided to follow his father’s cue. If he kept pushing for her to wean him from her breasts he would thankfully eat any pureed food he could throw down his throat. If the elder Potter gave in Harry would brave the innumerable mental scars he would have to face and continue nursing on his mother. Silently, Harry cheered, “Come on dad!!! Don’t wimp out! Do it for your boy!”

“Lils, let’s just try it. Let’s give him some baby food and if he likes it, we’ll switch him, if not, I won’t say another word.” James walked over and scruffed up Harry’s already messy black hair. “I promise.”

“Ok.” Lily relented as Harry reached for his dad. James picked him from her arms and carried him to the kitchen table. “I’ll just go finish getting dressed.”

James watched her walk down the hall and into the bed room. He instantly plopped his baby boy into the baby chair and dropped his voice, “Look buddy. I’m doing this for both of us, she hasn’t even let me touch her hoo haas since you were born and I’m starting to go through withdrawals.” He pulled some small glasses of baby food from the pantry and admitted, “I swear I’d never agree with Petunia, but she swears by these things... and if it will get me closer to enjoying those curvy little...” Harry put his hands to his ears and tried to black out the words he was hearing from his father. There were just some things a kid never needs to hear his parents saying and the items flowing from his dad’s mouth were some of them.

When Harry saw James stop talking he finally pulled his hands down and watched his dad place five glass containers in front of him. “Ok, laddie, I’ll even let you choose which one you want to try first.” Harry looked at the selection and leaned forward to read the labels: Strained peas, carrots, potato soup, and ewww Meatloaf? He jerked his hand to the soup and began reaching for it as his dad smiled, “Atta boy.”

Harry swore that no matter how awful the shit tasted, he would swallow it down. The pop of the can top echoed through the house and Harry swore he heard his mum sniff into a pillow down the hall. “Don’t worry about her, buddy. She gets that way. She’s... well we’ve both been in a bit of stress lately.” Harry turned back to his dad and saw a spoon full of food ‘flying’ it’s way to his mouth. Harry opened up and tasted the blandest mess he ever put there. It was more disgusting than any potion Pomfrey put him through back at Hogwarts. But, he swallowed it anyway instead of every being forced closer to his mom’s ‘hoo haas’ ever again. “Ha, ha!” James gloated.

Harry’s mind registered what was happening and silently crying out to his dad to shut the hell up... but it was no use, “See, Lily, I told you! He loves this stuff.” Harry’s inwardly sighed, he was about to hear an actual row between his parents.

“Fine!” she called through the house, “If he eats so good for you then you can feed that mouth of his all week.”

He looked to Harry and shrugged, “What?” he whispered. Harry actually shook his head at his clueless father. To his credit he must have learned a little bit and the Potter elder dropped to a whisper, “Well, it’s about time I started putting stuff in this end instead of wiping the other.”

Harry heard a knock at the door and saw a now clothed Lily pad across the floor, “Well, hello Professor.” Harry turned around and saw Albus stride into the room.

He was much younger than when he knew the old man, but he was still up there in years. He greeted the Potters, then turned to Harry. “Well, hello there little Harry.” the old wizard said with a smile and leaned forward. Harry decided to have a little fun and make his parents laugh. He grabbed hold of Professor Dumbledore’s beard and concentrated a bit. Suddenly, the white hair turned lime green with big purple polka dots. Albus jumped back and was soon laughing with the other adults. “Well, he is a powerful little tyke, and a joker to boot!”

“Well, he makes his old man very proud.” James boasted as he shoved another spoon full of the muck down Harry’s throat. Harry was more interested in watching the old man try to dispell the charm. His first three attempts only made it worse, first it grew three feet in length, then it began smelling like rotten apples, and finally it curled itself into a huge knot before he finally broke the spell.

“I am impressed.” Albus assured the group. “But I’m not here to be pranked...” he eyed Harry and added, “As nicely and impressive as they are.” He looked to James and asked, “So, have you decided who you want to be your secret keeper?”

“We are thinking about Sirius, but we have another option that we are discussing.” James clipped solemnly.

“Well, if you’re sure.” he felt into his cloak and brought out a large book, “here’s the book you’ll need.” he placed it on the table and began to bid them adieu.

“Albus,” James called out, “would you happen to be through examining my cloak?” he watched the old man’s face falter a bit before adding, “I really want to give it to Harry when he gets a bit older.”

As he opened the door Albus answered, “I’ll get it back to you in most haste.” he turned to Lily and nodded, “Lily, as always.” then turned on the spot and disappeared.

After Harry finished the last bite of the jar of baby food he was amazed at how fast his body began demanding rest. His eyes began drooping and his head slowly bent forward. He fought it and looked up to his dad pleading for a nap. “James, will you please go put Harry down for his nap.” Harry smiled inwardly and his mind thanked his mum. He felt his body picked up and carried up some steps. As he left the land of the awake his last thought was of how he could change the future.


He awoke to the sounds of people talking downstairs. Realizing that one of them was Wormtail Harry began running through different scenarios that could happen. He hated to admit that this reality may be different. Peter might not be a Death Eater, but if he was... how could he take care of that? The idea came in an epiphany and he quickly took his blanket and placed a curse on the fabric. All it took was for Peter to touch the fabric and everyone would know who he was allied to. Throwing the blanket over the edge Harry began crying loudly and hoping that someone would come check on him. Hopefully, the little traitor would try to get some alone time with Harry so he could gloat. Sure enough Harry heard the rat say loudly, “Don’t worry Lilly, I’ll see what’s going on with little Harry.”

The door cracked open and Harry watched Peter walk slowly into the room. Harry looked at him curiously and simply pointed to his blanket and jumped a little in his bed. “You want this blanket?” Peter asked as he picked up the pale blue checkered piece of cloth and dangle it just out of his reach. “Yeah, just like your dear old dad... always wanting something that is just out of his reach...” he pulled it back just out of Harry’s reach, “But, your dad usually somehow gets what he wants... Like Lily.” Harry tried to reach for it once again only to have it snatched away before his little fingers could grasp it. “Can I tell you a secret little Harry?” He watched as the older wizard’s eyes glinted with an odd bit of treachery, “I’ve finally reached out and grasped something I’ve always wanted.” he let out a bit of a laugh, “I’ve arranged a way to live through this war... of course it involves you losing your life, but I’m sure you won’t mind helping out old Uncle Peter now will you.” That admission triggered the jinx and Harry had to try not to laugh as he silently thanked Hermione for the idea.

“Here you little runt,” Wormtail tossed the blanket to Harry, “enjoy your little blankie while you can.” Peter tossed a toy in the crib with Harry and walked out the door. Harry raised his hand and made sure the door stayed open so he could hear what was about to happen downstairs. Harry heard Pettigrew call down, “I took care of him, he wanted his blanket. I also threw a toy into the crib for him to play with as well.”

“Peter,” Harry heard his mother’s voice inquire, “What?” He heard her pause for a second then ask, “Pete, explain why you have the words, ‘Death Eater’ scrawled across your face?”

“Lily, put the wand away... I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Harry heard him stammer, “Y-you know me! I’m just as pure as you...”

“Your little spots now say you’re lying.” James spoke dangerously, “Why don’t you go ahead and raise up your sleeve there and let’s take a gander...NO!” there were sounds of spells crashing into the hardwood floors of their home, “You will not slip away like that! Get Back here!”

Evidently he tried to escape in his rat form but with a frightened squeak he was forced to transform back to his human form. “J- J- James, forgive me...”

“Silencio!” Harry heard his mum cast. “James, what are we going to do? I don’t know if we can cast the Fidelius on our home again.” Harry heard a thump from downstairs, “James stop kicking Peter, it’s not helping matters right now.”

“But it makes me feel better.” Harry could feel the scalding look his mum was giving his dad through the momentary silence. “Ok, look I’m going to bind Wormtail, you apparate to Hogwarts and bring Albus back here.”

“I’m going to get Harry and bring him down here, I don’t want you to have to leave our prisoner alone for a moment.” Harry heard Lily sagely explain.

“Good idea.” James said as the sounds of footsteps rose towards Harry’s room.

“Hey there baby, I’m taking you downstairs, love.” Harry smiled and reached his arms towards his mother. As she cuddled him to her she explained, “Your da’s going to watch you for a bit, mummy will be right back.” Harry rose his head up to see Wormtail bound and tied up to a chair with a gag unnecessarily tied around his mouth.

Harry was plopped into James lap and decided to take that time to really push the situation in his favor. He looked over the coffee table and pointed to Peter and the words, “Unca Pedah, bad man!” managed to toddle out of his mouth. Harry meant to say, ‘Uncle Peter is a Death Eater bastard who was trying to kill me and you to boot,” but somehow his developing mind could only muster Unca Pedah, bad man. Amazing.

“How do you like that? His first words...” James looked over to Peter and sneered, “And it’s about a rat.”

“I’ll be right back.” Lily said as she took a breath and swept out the door. She called over her shoulder, “Make the traitor sign out our address so I can get the others across when I get back.”

“Gladly.” James said with an evil glint in his eyes. Ten minutes later a rather beaten and bruised Pettigrew signed out the Potter’s address. Harry simply sat back and watched with interest as his dad did to Peter what he had wanted to do for so long. Namely, beat the ever living Dementor shit out of him. He did refrain from cheering his dad along, but could not suppress a vindictive smile. His mum finally came through the door and took the slip of paper from James then headed back out to Albus.

Within seconds the flowing robes of Albus, Lily, and Severus burst through the door. “Oh no! What are you doing Lily? Snape is a freaking Death Eater.”

“Shut it, Potter.” Severus dug into his robes, “Here you are headmaster, Veretiserum.”

“Thank you, Severus.” Albus said taking the bottle and poured out three drops. Within mere minutes they had discovered enough new facts to send Peter to Azkaban for the rest of his life. James called in other Aurors who took the prisoner and statments. This lasted most of the afternoon. After the Aurors finally left Dumbledore went back and broke the Fidelus on the house and grimly advised, “We now need to move all of you.” While the Potters and Albus were discussing what to do to save the family Harry crawled into Severus’ lap and looked up to him. Snape looked down at what he considered the disgusting spawn of a Potter and was surprised when his Occlumency walls were bypassed. Images of his most dangrous moments spend spying on Voldemort and all the courageous moments of his life were scanned.

“Severus! Stop!” Lily’s voice broke as the connection snapped. “What are you doing?” Harry was surprised to find himself laying on the floor staring at the ceiling.

“He... he... that boy...” Severus stammered. Harry looked up and saw his former potions professor scrambling away from him.

Albus put a calming hand on Snape’s shoulder and ordered in a quiet tone, “Severus, what happened?”

“He broke through my shields.”

“That’s impossible.” Harry heard Albus whisper as he pulled himself up and stood shakily.

All eyes went to Harry who gave a giggle, pointed to Severus, and chipped, “Good Battie! He like us!” Of course he really wanted to say: The bat is a good guy. He is on our side.

“Maybe we should not mention this to anybody.” James sagely advised, “If this power got around to old Snake eyes...” he let the statement hang in the air.

“Agreed.” Severus nodded. “But, now you have to worry about what to do with yourselves.”

Albus sighed, “Well, my new potions master, I think this is the time we bid adieu.”

“In other words...”

“We trust you Severus, but we don’t trust You- know... uh, Voldemort.” Lily said with a small smile as she placed a hand on his arm. “Thank you, Severus. I know you are risking much more than we ever knew.”

He inclined his head to the three adults and left through the front door. With the closing of the door Albus looked to the adults and began discussing where they should take refuge. Ideas bounced from Hogwarts, to Longbottom Manor, even a brief discussion of The Burrow. It was not until late in the afternoon that Albus sighed, “I wish we could take refuge at Potter Manor.”

Harry’s ears perked up and he let his slinky wobble down the edge of the couch. He had often wondered why his parents never took refuge in the well protected and heavily warded Manor. “Well, I would love to go back there but after...” he cast a wary eye towards Lily before he continued, “my father disowned me for marrying Lily I have not been able to find the Manor. He hid it from me and Lily.” Harry’s eyes opened a bit. If his dad could not find it then why was he able to find it once he saw the address?

“He must have put it under a Fidelius and the keeper must have died... I wonder if Harry could find it if he knew the address?” Albus stopped and cast a wondering eye to James and asked, “What would make your father do such a thing?”

James looked to Lily who nodded, “Well, dear old da wanted me to marry a pureblood... he knew I was in love with Lily and he tried to make me take her as a mistress or simply as a second wife.”

“A second wife?” Albus looked skeptically at his former student. “You mean he wanted you to take on a harem?”

“Well, he never actually came out and said that, but it was what he was implying. He made good and sure that I knew that as the next Lord Potter I could legally take up to ten wives.” He leaned over and held onto Lily’s hand, “But, I never wavered. I knew there was only one woman for me.”

Harry saw Lily whisper something into his father’s ear and saw a deep blush form on James’ face. “Well, I guess we will have to take you to Longbottom Manor.”

James shook his head, “There has to be another option. We can’t put both of the boys in the same place! That is simply asking for a tragedy.”

Harry knew the address. His mind was racing on how to let them know... without actually raising suspicion. So, he did the most logical thing. He called out in the small child’s voice, “35 Godric’s Pride Lane, 35 Godric’s Pride Lane, 35 Godric’s Pride Lane, etc., etc., etc.” Harry marveled at the way an infants mind worked. He simply wanted to say it once, but the need to repeat things over and over ruled his normal speech patterns.

“Merlin! He’s right!” James exclaimed as the memories of his familial home returned. Immediately all eyes went back to Harry who simply giggled and rolled back on his back laughing at their expressions. “How... What...?”

Albus was the first to remove himself from the stupor that the one year old caused and remarked, “These current revelations of Harry’s magical expressions can be evaluated at a later date. Let’s get you three to Potter Manor, and quickly.”

“Why?”

“Because I told Severus to reveal the location of Godric’s Hollow to Voldemort tonight.”

Lily started to swing at her former headmaster when James caught her arm and ordered, “Later! We have to get out of here now!” In a flash the Potter’s had an emergency supply of clothes and such before sundown. With a ‘pop’ the three adults and Harry appeared outside the wards of Potter Manor. Harry’s body was protesting the long hours it had endured without a nap and as hard as he tried to fight the urge he surrendered to sleep with the melodious sounds of his mother slapping, cursing, and beating the ever living spirit out of the most powerful light wizard alive.

That night he awoke to semi-darkness. Raising his head a bit he could tell that there was a night light in the form of a snitch flittering about the room. Harry relaxed and thought about all he had done since he arrived. Part of him wondered if he had done this boy a disservice by acting so much more advanced, but hey, he was here to have fun with his parents. Hopefully his little changes will make this kids life a whole hell of a lot better than his own early years. Deciding to throw the fates into the wind he resolved to simply have fun with his parents and when possible, prank them as much as he could. It was at this point he heard noises from the neighboring room. For a second he thought that maybe his parents were simply moving furniture around. Then he heard his dad scream out, “Oh Merlin, my little Lily! Wrap those lips around me again!”

Harry put his hands over his ears and tried in vain to drown out the sounds of his parents going after each other like horny porn stars. Finally, he had enough when he heard his mum slap James and order in her sexiest voice, “You wanted to know what my milk tasted like, so suck my tit!” The last thing he heard before he started banging his head against the bars of his crib was, “OH GOD JUST SLAM ME RAW YOU BUCK WILD BEAST!!!”

As the sounds calmed down he resolved two things: Number 1, Always, and he meant always put up silencing charms around his bedrooms when he was having sex. Number 2, invest heavily into a shrink when he got back home to deal with the mental scars he now carried.

The night crawled on and Harry relaxed as he integrated a few magical tricks into this young Harry’s mind. It was still developing so much of what he wanted to do, was nigh impossible without seriously screwing up the synapses. The next week and a half with the Potters was etched into his mind of a loving family.... and the many tricks a young kid can pull if he tried hard enough. Such things as waiting until the diaper was completely off the body before spraying gold rain on the offending changer was a hit.... with the other parent. Finding a way to climb on top of the oldest table in the joint with his fingerpaint and redecorating a rather irate portrait of Godric Gryffindor was fun, and he even learned a few old school curse words from the Founder. But, the favorite for Harry was when he looked up to his mum and quoted her noble words of love, “SLAM ME RAW YOU BUCK WILD BEAST!!!” Harry was glad to find that his parents room was always sound proofed from that point on.

His first birthday was still a rather slow affair with a few presents but enough love to fill up his heart for eternity. He flew on the toy broom Sirius sent, scared the family cat once again, and yes just for good measure he found a vase to destroy. It wasn’t the one from Petunia, but it still felt nice to imagine that it was hers. The capper for the day was when his dad dug out his broom and rode beside Harry around the Manor wards, simply feeling the wind against their skin.

The days ticked on until he knew the end of his joyful time was drawing near. Harry was of half a mind to take the charm off and simply live out this life. He became moody as he could feel the time slipping through his fingers, and the only thing that truly made him happy was being thrown in the air as high as his father could manage, because, what kid can resist the thrill of flying like that! It was in mid toss one Saturday afternoon that he felt the charm nearly burn his skin from the heat, and then he was gone from that reality.