Charles Sirius Potter was not having a good day. Scratch that: a good week. No, scratch that again: a good month. First, he had been kidnapped by Voldemort along with Cedric Diggory, who was killed immediately, just to be labeled a liar by the whole wizarding world as a liar and an attention seeker. Then, Albus fucking Dumbledore, his honorary grandfather dropped a bomb; his twin brother was alive.
“Charlie?” His mother whispered, uneasiness evident in her tone. “Sweetheart.”
“Charles?” His father didn’t sound much better than his mother, his eyes nervously switching between him and Dumbledore.
“Why?”
“Charlie-”
“Why the FUCK did you hide this from me?!”
His parents, godfathers, two best friends, and Dumbledore all flinched at his booming voice. He rose from his chair rapidly, startling his friends in the process as he glared at his parents sitting in front of him.
His father's eyes teared up immediately while his mother looked everywhere but at him.
“Prongslet, they didn’t have a choice. We thought-”
“You knew?!” Charles interrupted his Godfather Sirius, who shut his mouth immediately. Uncle Remus looked down at the dining table guiltily. “You both knew?!”
“Charles, we didn’t have a choice!” His father, James, sobbed. “He wasn’t normal, he-”
“Breath, James.” His mother, Lily, put her hand on James’s back, rubbing circles on it.
She turned to Dumbledore with a pleading look. The headmaster sighed and then nodded.
“Charles, please sit down. We will explain everything.”
Charles looked to his friends, Ron and Hermione, who took each of his hands in theirs. He sat down.
“Charles, my boy.” Dumbledore began. “Before we tell you everything, you need to know something. How much do you all know about the Greek gods?”
Hermione’s hand shot up immediately, which managed to get a snort or a slight smile from everyone.
“Like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades?” Ron asked, which earned him a glare from Hermione.
“What does that have to do with this?” Charles spat out through gritted teeth.
“Well, it’s because the Greek Gods are real.” The old man let out a huff while the adults in the room flinched. “I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, son of Hecate, Goddess of Magic and Crossroads, creator of witches and wizards.”
Hermione let out a gasp, Ron’s eyes widened comically wide and Charles froze in his seat.
“What- how?” Hermione whispered in confusion, a sentiment shared by the boys.
“They’re just myths! How could they be real? That’s not scientifically possible! I-”
“Hermione.” Remus' voice was gentle but firm with a hint of amusement. “When you first discovered you were a witch, did that make sense scientifically?”
That made the girl hesitate before her head shook. “No, it didn’t.”
“Does that make Lady Hecate our patron goddess?” Charles turned his attention back to his parents. “Is that why we celebrate all the pureblood holidays and rituals alongside muggle ones?”
“Charlie, why do you think your mother doesn’t object to following pureblood traditions except for the blood status nonsense?”
His parents' eyes were still misty and their posture was tense. His mother kept averting his eyes while his father's lips trembled. “You’ve met a god or a goddess, haven’t you?”
The two nodded. “Yes.”
“Still,” Ron spoke up, gaining all their attention at once, much to his discomfort.
“What does it have to do with Charles’ missing twin?”
“Because…” Sirius turned to the Potters, then Dumbledore. “Although you are 100% Lily’s and James’ son..”
“Your brother, Harry is not. He’s the son of Lily, James, and Apollo, the god of the sun, music, healing, and prophecies.” Dumbledore finished for him.
The room fell silent, the three teenagers taking in all the information that had just been given.
“But why did you hide him away?” Charles asked in a deadly calm voice, mustering all the anger he had in him.
“Because it was the only way to keep him alive, to keep both of you alive.” His mother's voice was sharp, but Charles knew her well. Her eyes were focused on the clock on the wall, avoiding his eyes, and her hands, folded in front of her, were shaking slightly.
“Charlie, before your mother got pregnant with you two, Apollo fell in love with me,” James explained, snapping all three teens to stare at him in shock and bewilderment. “So when he found out I was a married man, married to a beautiful woman, he decided to… uh…”
His father's face was Gryffindor red, much like the kids’ faces were.
“We don’t need details, Dad.”
“Oh, thank Merlin.”
“When demigods are born, they have a scent that alerts monsters that hunts us.” Dumbledore continues with a distant fondness, contrary to his words. “Just like in the Greek myths, they try to kill demigods, or half-bloods as we call ourselves-”
“Half-blood?” Ron asked, baffled. “Why half-blood? Are they all wizards too?”
“No, not all demigods are witches and wizards.” The headmaster's eyes twinkled.
“We demigods are called half-bloods by the gods because we have half mortal blood and half godly blood in us, making us half-bloods.”
“Sir, since your mother is the goddess of magic, does that mean you and other children of Hecate have an advantage against the rest of the wizarding world?” Hermione was practically soaking everything in, with a notebook and pen somehow in her hands.
“Yes, it does.” He turned to Charles with a sad smile. “Due to our scent, after you defeated Voldemort, monsters began targeting your brother and you, Charles, since your scents got mixed up.”
Charles could feel her muscles ache as his body tensed even more. “So you guys just abandoned him to die?”
“No!” “Of course not!” His parents replied hurriedly, both their eyes wide and body shaken.
“We decided it would be best for him to live in Camp Half-Blood, a place I grew up spending my summers,” Dumbledore explained calmly. “All of the children of the Olympians have a cabin each, and Dionysus, the God, and Chiron look after the children.”
“He also has other siblings looking out for him.” Remus chimed in. “Along with protection from monsters out in the world.”
“But what about-”
“He still gets a good education there.” Dumbledore interrupted the bushy-haired girl with an amused smile. “They have to blend in with the muggle world eventually, so it’s a top priority.”
“But why now?” Charles turned his gaze into a glare. “Why do you only want him back now?”
“Because Voldemort is after him.” Sirius snarled. “He wants him on his side.”
The colors drained from Charles' face. He didn’t know his brother and already felt protective over him. It wasn’t fair he had to grow up away from them, from him. And he had all the reason to join Voldemort, his parents, their parents had failed them.
“We need to get to him first.” He declared determined to join in. “I don’t want my brother away from me again.”
James and Lily had small smiles on their faces, though their eyes were still dull and misty and their bodies tense.
“Your parents, you three, and I will depart to New York tomorrow, to Camp Half-Blood.”
And with that, the meeting was done. Charles made sure to not spare his parents a glance as he walked straight into his and Ron’s room in the Black family home, with Ron tailing behind, and shut the door.
___________________________________________________________________
Growing up as the boy-who-lived was not easy, but it wasn’t hard either. Charles got everything he could ever want, the newest brooms, the finest food, the best clothes. But it came with a sacrifice, he didn’t get to be a kid all the time. His parents had always been overprotective, with his father staying home and his mother working as a potions master specialized in healing potions, it was hard to get away from them.
Sometimes, he couldn’t help but resent them for all the private lessons, self-defense classes, and extra homework he had to do. But once he saw his parents crying in their office, surrounded by pictures of a baby with green eyes like his mother and hair like his father on his eighth birthday, all the resentment washed away quickly.
He had always known he had a dead brother, but it didn’t feel real until pictures of bright green eyes haunted his dreams. Charles had longed for him to have survived ever since.
And then, it came true. His death was a lie, a lie his parents had fed him instead of admitting they were helpless, that they were cowards. He couldn’t fathom how the two were put in Gryffindor, because he would never do that.
He was a Gryffindor for a reason, and he would do anything in his power to protect his brother, Harry.
When they arrived at the camp, on a hill by a pine tree, they were greeted by a centaur who laughed warmly and shook Dumbledore’s hand.
“Albus, you’ve grown so much.”
“Chiron, I assume you’ve informed Mr. D of the situation?”
The centaur, Chiron nodded. “There’s a lot that has changed, Albus. For once, the gods have revealed the existence of their Roman counterpart and their Roman children-”
“What?!” Hermione squealed, then immediately recoiled in embarrassment at her volume. Chiron chuckled as he led them to the camp.
“You must be Hermione.” She nodded as he gave an encouraging smile. “It happened about two years ago. The Romans have better structure and complicated politics, along with a college for demigods to study in.”
“A college?”
“I’ll explain later, Ron.”
“We just finished a game of Capture the Flag,” Chiron explained as kids in bronze armor and weapons walked by them without batting an eye at them. “And I didn’t have time to inform Harry of you all.”
James held his breath. “Is he… well?”
“He has grown into a fine man, a good second in command for his brother, their cabin leader,” Chiron answered warmly and the Potter parents sighed in relief. “Though he might be a bit busy today, with all the injuries.”
“They play with real weapons?” Hermione asked as her eyes landed on a girl cleaning her blood-covered sword.
Charles and Ron winced as well, she looked the same age as Ginny.
“Demigods need to learn and practice self-defense, there are monsters everywhere after all.”
Chiron stopped in his tracks as an older boy approached them with a lop-sided smile.
“Percy, my boy, where’s Harry?”
Percy grimaced, looking from Chiron to the group of wizards and witches in front of him.
“Yeah, no. You can’t do whatever you’re planning on.”
Charles could practically feel the nerves coming off his parents, their hands on each of his shoulders, holding on firmly.
“This is important, Percy.”
“Chiron, please, you don’t want to see him right now-”
“Percy, it’s import-”
“No, Chiron. He’s sleep deprived and pumped on adrenaline since Will just got back from his trip with Nico.” He turned to look at Charles in the eyes, his sea green eyes so similar, yet different from Harry’s, though with a look that screamed desperation.
"Nobody's safe.”
Charles couldn’t help but tense at that.
“Do you think your brother’s mental?” Ron whispered, earning himself a smack in the head from Hermione.
“Honestly, Ronald. Not now.”
“Percy.” The older kid winced at the harsh tone of the centaur, then sighed.
“He’s in the infirmary, all the cabin 7 kids are taking shifts except for him. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
And with that, they were inside said infirmary, where injured kids were in the bed with a group of teens who were running around with white coats and some sort of fruits in hand.
“Look, Lily. There’s out Harry!” His father cried, pointing to the far back of the room.
From where Charles stood he could see his brother standing by a kid lying on a bed, his hands hovering above the kid's bleeding leg. His mouth was moving, though he couldn’t hear anything coming out of him, the wound was closing up, healed by golden light from his brother's hands.
“He’s amazing.” Lily sobbed.
“Chiron,” A girl with short hair with green tips and bags under her eyes. “You’re lucky you came in while we were finishing up. Harry is going feral.”
Chiron sighed. “I’ll make Clovis spell him to sleep.”
They made their way to Harry as people began moving out, some finally reacting to their presence, pointing and whispering to each other. By the time they stood by Harry, it was only them, two other healer kids and the injured kid left.
“You feel better?” Before the poor kid could answer, Harry shut the notebook he had written in shut. “Good. Now get out of my infirmary and you better not be back for at least five days, Yang. Go.”
The guy mumbled his thanks, bowed nervously then bolted out of the room, leaving only dust behind.
Harry sighed, then turned his attention to them. Charles’ breath got caught in his throat as the green eyes looked them up and down. “Sorry, but I don’t treat mortals. Get the hell out.”
Dumbledore laughed. “I’m Hecate's son. And we’re not here for injury.”
Harry scoffed, sitting himself down on a chair. “Explain. Quickly.”
“Manners, Harry.” Chiron chided. “Harry, this is Albus Dumbledore, a wizard and former camper from Britain.”
He then shifted his attention to the Potters. “And these are your parents, Lily and James Potter, like Apollo has told you.”
Harry nodded, clearly uninterested as he kept looking at the exit of the room. “And this is your twin brother, Charles.”
“Harry.” Lily began, taking one step closer to Harry. “We- we missed you so much, my dear. And we’re so sorry for everything.”
James took it a step further, stopping right in front of Harry then got on his knees. “I-i’m so sorry, my son. We were cowards. We were young and hopeless and desperate enough to abandon you.”
He choked on his words as tears streamed down his face rapidly. “I should’ve known better, we should have sent you letters, or visited, or taken you home when you were older and we didn’t.”
Lily stood behind her husband, eyes red and teary. “We failed you, Harry. And we are so, so sorry.”
Harry didn’t look up, his eyes firmly fixed on the ground so no one could see his face.
“Voldemort, a guy who tore our family apart, who tried to kill us is after you,” Charles spoke, startling his parents in the process. “And we don’t want to risk your safety. Please, come to Hogwarts, to school with us.”
Harry took a deep breath and exhaled. He looked up and there was nothing. Not a single tear or emotion in sight, only dark circles from exhaustion. “Are you done?”
His parents flinched at the cool tone he used, which Charles felt somewhat satisfied with. Ok, cool, I get it. Now get the hell out before-”
“HARRYYYYY!!!”
All their heads snapped to the entrance, where a tall blonde boy was sprinting with a very injured, bloody boy in his arms.
“Oh, for FUCKS SAKE, DI ANGELO! AGAIN?”
The Potters moved as Harry furiously stomped over to the bed where the injured boy was put gently, the blonde quickly grabbing a fruit a stuffing it in the boy's mouth while Harry took in a deep breath.
“You owe me for this, Will.”
“Shut up and help me heal him!”
The two quickly put their hands over him like they had seen Harry do earlier, and began singing in a language Charles couldn’t understand. Even with painful grunts and intakes of breaths, he couldn’t help but stare in awe at his brother, who sounded like an angel.
“I bet he’s popular with the girls-”
“Not now, Hermione!”
“Shush, Ronald.”
The two stopped when the boy in the bed’s wounds stopped bleeding, though he was pushed back to the bed when he tried to get up.
“Nico, love, you’re still injured.” The blonde chided, kissing Nico on the cheek.
Harry let out an exaggerated gag. “I don’t want to see my brother kissing my patient, Will.”
“Says the one who cried when we got together.”
“Shut up.”
They all stood frozen in their place, except for Chiron and Dumbledore, who were happily chatting.
It was amazing seeing his brother in action, along with Will, his brother's brother, he was putting bandages on different parts of Nico’s body while writing everything down in a book.
“And… we’re done!” Will said happily, kissing his boyfriend on the lip, much to Harry’s evident disgust.
“Now that you’re all fixed up, get the hell out of here and make out somewhere else.”
“Homophobic!”
“Damn right, I am.”
Once the two were out of sight, Harry turned to his parents, who were staring blankly at him. “It was a joke, boomers.”
“I think we should move over to the big house, Harry.”
He surprisingly didn’t protest at all as he followed the centaur to the big house, where there were already a few kids inside on the couches. Chiron gestures for them all to sit, not bothered at all by the kids who were already there.
“So.” Harry began, stirring the iced coffee a girl had given him with a straw in his hands. “Tell me everything, from start to finish.”
And they did, taking turns though their parents kept going off track to the point Dumbledore shut them up. By the time they had caught up to what had happened that summer, Harry looked as if he finally connected some dots.
“Oh, so that’s why there are creepy men by the border trying to get in every week.”
Charles blinked once. Then again. “What?”
“Yeah, there are a couple of people in black clothes and masks, shooting spells out their wands trying to break the protection of the camp.” Harry explained, eyes fixed on their parent's faces.
If Charles wasn’t stressing himself, he would be impressed by how Harry was torturing the two.
“Yeah, but their magic is nothing compared to mine.”
“We get it, Lou Ellen, your moms the goddess of magic.” The boy from earlier, Yang snapped.
“That’s why you need to go to Hogwarts, come back home.” James pleaded, his eyes pleasing with hints of desperation. “We already failed to keep you safe once, we aren’t risking it again.”
Harry scoffed, putting his drink down on the table in front of him. “James, Lily.”
Their parents flinched. “I just got an early admission into a college in New Rome for medicine. Do you know how hard that is?”
Hermione let out a big gasp. “That’s bloody amazing! Congratulations Harry.”
Harry gave her a small smile before scowling again. “I have worked my butt off to be an amazing healer my whole life and I’ve finally made it. I’m not throwing it all away just for your peace of mind.”
“Harry,” Chiron coughed. “I’ve already talked to Apollo and the professors. They’re willing to have you as their only online student and let you intern under the healers at Hogwarts.”
James and Lily's faces lit up immediately, eyes bug and hopeful.
“Yeah, no.” Harry burst their bubble immediately.
“Damn, he’s a tough one.” Ron whispered to Charles and Hermione.
Charles shook his head. “He’s a lot nicer than I would’ve been.”
Dumbledore didn’t look defeated, quite the opposite as he gave Harry a welcoming smile.
“You only have to attend five classes of your choice, have your very own area in the school’s infirmary and you have a free pass to do whatever you want.”
“Deal.”
Bonus scene:
“Harry Potter, eh? The son of Apollo as well.”
“Just get this over with, hat. I got, like, three essays to hand in this week and I don’t have much time to-”
“And you, along with Leo Valdez and Lou Ellen Blackstone, managed to make technology work with magic all for the purpose of selling it and making a big profit?”
"... Yes."
“Better be…. SLYTHERIN!”