The Incident
Despite being a wizard and the twin brother of the Boy who Lived, Julius Potter, Harry liked to think he had a fairly normal childhood. Even though he wasn’t the twin who vanquished the dark lord as a baby his parents never treated him any less for it. Both him and Julius were well fed, clothed, educated, had plenty of toys, and most of all their parents love. Plus Harry felt he was truly blessed to have a celebrity sibling that loved to spend time with him. Not to mention their uncles, Padfoot and Moony, who always took time out of their schedules to spend time with their nephews.
Harry's only issue was that he was lonely. At the age of 8 Harry’s only friend was his brother.Julius was the Sun, seemingly exuding warmth, drawing everyone around into his orbit. Harry, however, was the Moon, on a starless night; only able to shine thanks to his brother. Sometimes it felt like no one outside their family noticed him. Julius had always shone brightest, receiving endless praise and gifts from wizards from all around the country. Julie liked to say they came from all around the world but Harry had read the packages and everything was in English. If the packages were really from all around the world they would be in more than one language right?
Whenever this happened their Mom tended to pull Julius away to talk to him in private. Curious about what they talked about in private, Harry once hid himself so he could listen in on their conversation.
“Now Julius, just because you’ve received all these letters and presents from fans does not mean you should let your fame go to your head”. Their Mom said in a hushed voice as she knelt down in front of his twin.
“Why not Mom? I’m famous, shouldn't I enjoy getting everything I’ve earned for defeating the Dark lord”? Julius asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Sighing, Lily reached to brush Julius' unruly hair out of his face. “There’s nothing wrong with indulging in the fruits of your labor my son, but don't forget about your brother. People never send Harry anything , have you noticed that”?
A frown marred Julius' face for a moment. , “He doesn’t? I always thought Harry was just shy about it and opened his presents in private”.
At this Lily shook her head.“It’s because Harry’s not as well known as you. When that night happened Harry was mentioned in the papers, but mostly as a footnote. In later years, when all the books and stuff came out about you, he’s not mentioned in them, because he’s not you”.
“That’s not fair! Harry’s so kind, why wouldn’t people notice that”? Julius asks in confusion
“I do not know my son, but please don’t let your fame get in between you and your brother, promise me this?” She asked . Seeing the look in his mothers eye Julius nodded, holding out his pinkie.
“Pinkie promise”? He asks, and Lily entwined her pinkie with her sons.
“Pinkie promise”.
Despite making that promise, not everything was equal between the twins. Julius did his best to share the toys he received from fans with his brother, but, while they could share most material thing, they couldn't share everything.
Everytime the twins would go hang out with kids their age Julius was always surrounded by kids, never noticing Harry being left behind. Even when they hang out with the Weasley children, Ron and Ginny would take all of his brother's attention, while the older Weasley children hangout with kids their own age or are focusing on their studies. The only Weasley kids that normally seemed to give Harry the time of day were Fred and George, but Harry hasn’t seen them in over a year. When Harry tried to ask Molly about it she would just hand him a candy and send him off to play with the others.
For a while, Harry thought he could have a friend in Neville Longbottom, but that didn’t last long as Julius decided to make it his mission to help him discover his magical potential and get over his clumsiness. No luck yet on that front but it was enough for Julius to take up nearly all Neville's attention when they boys were invited over to hang out.
So yes, despite having a loving family and a good childhood, Harry was lonely. The only friend he truly had was his brother and when he tried asking his parents for a cat or an owl as a pet for Company they said they always said the same thing. , “You and Julius will get pets when we go shopping for Hogwarts, so please just wait until then”.
Generally though, the Potter twins' childhood was a happy one, but one Summer day the cracks begin to form starting with a trip to Diagon Alley; cracks that their parents would do anything to keep from growing bigger and shatting their happy children.
“Harry, Julius are you boys finished getting ready? It’s almost time for the shops to open up and you know how your Mum gets when she's not one of the first in line for her new potions ingredients”! James Potter called for his sons from the foot of the stairs in Potter manor.
“Coming Dad”. “Almost ready Dad”. The two voices shouted as the twins made their way down the stairs. Despite not being identical twins the duo was dressed identically, in tan khakis that go down to their knees, red shirts with yellow stripes, round wire rim glasses that match their fathers, and matching red tennis shoes. The two boys themselves were also very similar looking, with their matching, impossible to manage Potter hair and matching skin tones. There were differences though . Harry was an inch or two shorter than Julius and his eyes were a much brighter emerald green, while Julius’s green eyes are paler and look like jade. Both boys were born with brown hair, like their father, but as they grew up Julius’s hair took more of a red tint from their Mom’s hair, while Harry’s hair only seemed to get darker. The biggest difference however, was their scars, with Julius’s famous lighting scar going over his right eye, while Harry sported a smaller scar hidden under his hair that, when he asked his parents about it, they didn't remember how he got.
Seeing his sons James broke into a large grin, scooping his boys up into a hug, “There’s my two growing boys”! He exclaimed.
“Dad you're crushing us” “Dad let us down”. They laughed as their father gently set them down on the floor. The trio make their way to the floo room where their mother was waiting.
“There you three are! Come on, the stores are opening soon. Once we finish with my potion shopping we’ll get some ice cream from Fortescue’s, then look around for fun. Is there anywhere you’d like to go”? She asked the twins, already knowing the answers.
“The Quidditch store”. Julius said without hesitation, making James look at their oldest son with pride, while at the same time Harry says, “The Book Store”. Making Lily smile as she grabbed the Bronze cauldron of Floo powder and kneels down in front of her boys.
“Alright then, let’s get going. Do you boys remember how to use the Floo”? She asked, holding the Cauldron in front of her sons as each boy took a handful.
““Yes Mum”” they said, as the family made their way to Diagon Alley.
The family's shopping trip went like they usually do. First starting at the Apothecary to get Lily’s potion ingredients for her latest experiments, leading to another hour long argument between her and the owner about the quality of the ingredients, before she handed her purchases off to their house elf Daisy to get home while they continued shopping. Next was a stop by Fortescue’s for some ice cream. The elder Potters shared a large Caramel and Chocolate milkshake with two straws and spoons, while Julius got two scoops of butterbeer ice cream on a chocolate cone, and Harry got two scoops of Mint Chocolate Chip in a bowl.
Once everyone is finished with their icecream, James flipped a coin to decide which store to go to next, the Book store or Quidditch store. As the coin goes up tails, they made their way to the bookstore for a half hour as the twins each found a book to read for the week, a book on different dragon species for Julius, and a book about magical artwork for Harry. After sending the books home with Daisy they made their way to the Quidditch store, where a crowd was gathered outside.
“Dad, why is there a crowd outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies”? Harry hears Julius ask from the other side of their mom. Glancing down at his son, James moved to find an angle where he can see what has everyone in a tissy.
“Hmm let’s see, looks like the Nimbus 1950 came out recently I bet that and the new Batch of Hogwarts students is behind this crowd. But don't worry I see a way around this crowd just follow me”. James says as he leads his family through the crowd to have a front seat view of the Broom demo in the window while they wait for the bustle inside the shop to thin out. While Harry himself has always enjoyed flying on brooms with his uncle Remus for fun, he’s never quite found playing Quidditch that much fun, since there always seems to be an odd number of people when his brother wants to play leaving Harry the odd person out. So, after watching the new broom for a while, Harry started to look around to see if anything caught his eyes.
“Hoot”. An owl's voice draws Harry’s attention away from the broom to a pet store across the street. Glancing at the rest of his family who are distracted by the broom, or chatting with some friends around them, Harry decided to sneak off to check out the animals.
Once in front of the store Harry was able to see the Owl who he had heard from across the street. Standing tall above the other owls in the store was a beautiful Great horn owl of Black, Brown, and White feathers standing proud from within his perch in his cage. Harry, completely entrapped by the bird, began to look around for a store employee to find out if he could pet the bird or not, maybe if he did well with this owl he could get one when he goes to Hogwarts. But as Harry was looking around for some help he didn’t notice the group approaching him until he was surrounded.
“Hey Julius”. A Male voice called, snapping Harry out of his trance as he looked up to see himself surrounded by a bunch of boys looking to be 11-12 years old wearing clothes like the ones Uncle Sirius likes to get from the muggle world. These must be a bunch of muggle borns or half bloods Harry concluded, as he looked around and saw no sign of his brother who they called out to.
“Uhh, are you talking to me”? Harry asked, confused, pointing to himself when he saw no sign of his brother around him. Sure the two are twins but they aren’t identical like the Weasley twins, their Mom calls them fraternal twins, so even though they look fairly alike now there are plenty of differences to tell the two apart.
“Who else would we be talking to Julius, we heard the legendary Boy Who Lived was walking around Diagon today in Khakis and a red tee shirt so we knew we just had to meet him. And man, can I just say, it’s an honor to meet you. We've all read about you from your books and are big fans”. The first boy said as understanding dawned in Harry's eyes, Ah those books. His parents had been trying to get them pulled from the shelfs for years, since they were made up of fictional stories of his brother being a globe trotting hero since he was in Diapers basically. His family knows their rubbish so his Mum and Dad have forbidden the pair from ever reading those books and once he even saw his Mum burn a copy a fan sent them in the mail.
“Oh sorry, but I’m not Julius”, Harry said, hoping to clear up any misunderstanding before adding on, “I’m his twin brother Harry Potter”. At his word the boys around him go from warm and inviting to cold and harsh as the boy next to the one who spoke first laughed and said.
“Nice joke, but everyone knows the Boy who lived doesn’t have a twin, if he did he’d surely would be in the books right guys”? The rest of the boys start laughing and nodding in agreement.
“But I’m not lyi”- as Harry is about to say, he’s cut off by a slap from the first boy.
“STOP LYING YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT”! The first one yells before lowering his voice remembering where they are. “If we say that Julius Potter doesn't have a twin then he doesn’t have a twin”.
With that the rest of the group seemed to remember they were in front of a pet store so they started dragging Harry off to a side Alley to continue their “Talk”.
Once alone the largest boy in the group shoves Harry against the wall. “No wonder we thought he was Julius Potter guys”. He said, looking Harry up and down, grabbing Harry’s glasses from his face before continuing, “This runts dressed exactly the same as he is even down to his Glasses”.
“I bet they aren’t even real Glasses”. A Tall skinny boy adds in with a joker-like smile.
“No they’r”- Harry tries to explain himself before he’s slapped again from another boy this time shutting him up.
“Oh shut up you faker! Oh I know, how about we show this little poser what happens when you lie. Especially about being related to a celebrity like Julius Potter”. The Large boy suggests and throws Harry’s glasses onto the ground smashing them beneath his feet, as the rest of the boys have their fun teaching Harry a lesson with first words and their fists.
“Liar”.
“Julius Potter doesn’t have a twin”
“You’re a nobody”.
“Stop pretending to be a celebrity”
“You’ll never be the boy who lived so stop acting like you are”.
“Liar! Fake! Everyone knows the The Boy who lived is an only child “
About 10 minutes after Harry wandered off from his Family, the line outside the store had gone down and it was finally the Potters turn to go inside. Julius, bursting with excitement, finally drew his attention away from the window to talk to his brother. “Hey Harry, are you excited to check out the Nimbus 1950. Huh, Harry”.
Julius blinked in confusion looking around. Where was his brother? The crowd had finally cleared but his brother was nowhere in sight. Worried Julius turned to grab the attention of the most powerful being he knew besides Grandpa Albus, his Mom.
“Hey Mum”. Lily heard as she looked down to see her oldest son pulling at her robe.
“Yes Julius”? She asked, kneeling down
“Where’s Harry”? This caused Lily to blink as she looked around trying to find the head or tail of her son anywhere. As she looked around she noticed across the street a large gathering of young men in an Ally setting her motherly instincts off.
Putting a hand on her husband's shoulder Lily pushed Julius into his arms, and said “James you keep an eye on Julius I’ll find Harry”. Before marching off.
As she drew near the group of boys she could see much clearer now that they were all beating up on a small huddled up figure. Though she couldn’t see within the huddle very well, there on the ground in front of them were her youngest son's glasses, or what remained of them, shattered into pieces. Fearing the worst, Lily casts a spell in her voice to amplify it.
“YOU BOYS WHAT ARE YOU DOING”?!?!?! She asks as the group stops what they’re doing and looks at her nervously. They might all be a group of rowdy juveniles but nothing is more terrifying than a Mama bear who’s been poked.
“Uhh, nothing Miss, this guy was just lying to us about something so we were teaching him a lesson”. The boy who started all this said nervously, surely this scary lady would agree with him that someone lying about being the Boy WHo Lived twins deserved to be punished right?
As the group moves to reveal their target Lily gasps in shock, there beaten black and blue was her baby. With his clothes in tatters and blood coming from his busted lip, Lily was ready to raise hell on these boys who would hurt her precious boy. Shaking in rage Lily Looks up at the smug boys who Dare look proud at beating up an 8 year old.
“How dare you! ” She said, deadly calm as Lily stood up and the boys started to break into a nervous sweat as they felt a chill go down their spines. The smarter boys started to back up slowly to get away from her, fearing the worst.
“How dare you do this to my son! When I find your parents and tell them about this all you little hooligans are going to pay”. Lily says with her voice deadly cold as the crowd starts to run away from her without her even needing to raise a wand. Seeing as she’s now alone with her son, Lily Quickly rushed to gather up the beaten boy in front of her and Apparates out to get him medical attention right away.
Meanwhile in the Quidditch shop James and Julius were looking around but couldn't help but be worried about what could be taking Harry and Lily so long to get back to them. Just as the duo were making their purchases of new flying goggles for Julius, Lily’s Doe patronus comes galloping through the walls.
“James, get Julius home as soon as you can. Harry's been beaten up and is in need of medical attention”. Once the doe vanishes with the message complete the two Potters look together in shock before James grabs Julius’s shoulder Apparting them home.
Once home the duo rushes to Harry’s room right across the hall from Julius’s, once inside the duo find Harry in his full sized bed wrapped up like a mummy crying into Lily’s arms.
“”Harry””!! The two rushed to his bedside as Lily shushed them.
“Be quiet, Harry’s had a rough enough day already, and he needs new glasses”. She scolds them as the pair get closer.
“Sorry Mum, sorry Harry”. Julius says as he bows his head in shame.
“Sorry son, for not being there for you today”. James says reaching down to brush Harry’s hair from his eyes to give him a peck on the forehead, then standing back up. “But what happened today Harry you vanished for 10 minutes how did you end up this injured”?
At this question Harry starts to break down crying again mumbling, “I’m not a liar, I’m Julius’s brother”. Over and over as if trapped in a loop of his memories of those bullies trying to teach him a lesson.
Sensing her son's pain Lily says, “Julius go to your room, this is a conversation that needs to be between us and your brother”.
“But Mom!”.
“No but’s young man, now go to your room”. She said as Julius nodded, nervously looking at Harry one more time before rushing off to his room. Sensing they weren’t being listened in on, Lily called for the family’s House Elf. “Daisy” Pop.
“What mays Daisy do for Miss Lily today”? Their sole house elf asks with a bow.
“Bring me one of the children's calming draughts please”. Lily asked as their elf popped out of the room then, not a minute later, popped in with a calm draught Lily created herself to be more safely used on children. Once she dismissed the elf, Lily uncorked the Potion bottle and gently instructed Harry to drink the whole vile.
“Now Harry, start from the beginning, why don’t you tell us what happened”? James said somewhat calmly, never imagining the possibility his own son could be bullied one day.
Sniffing, Harry nodded, wiping his tears from his eyes and started explaining. “I’m sorry, I was just bored waiting in line for the Quidditch supply store to die down and I got distracted by the call of an owl. When I went to check out the pet shop those boys approached me thinking I was Julius. When I tried telling them I was Julius’s twin they called me a liar and started beating me up for it”. He said. As Harry started crying more he finally asked
“Why am I always alone”?
“Alone? Harry, what do you mean? You have Me, your Dad, Julius, your uncles, the Weasley’s, and Neville who are your friends, how are you alone”? Lily asked, very confused. Both her boys had always been so happy, why would Harry feel alone?
“But Mom, you, Dad and Julius are my family you have to be there for me, even then you aren’t always around since Dad has work and you have your potion research we can’t interrupt. Uncle Padfoot is always traveling the Muggle world so I only see him once a month, Uncle Moony is either busy trying to keep a job or Traveling with Uncle Padfoot and Neville l and the Weasley kids are Julius’s friends not mine, except maybe Fred and Geroge but I haven’t seen them in ages”. Harry explained dejectedly, letting his feelings show more than usual, as he started to think back on what those bullies said.
“A runt like you would never be worth anything to Julius Potter”.
James managed to snap Harry out of his spiral by putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder, drawing the boy's attention back to himself. “Son, why didn’t you tell us you ever felt this way”? James asked, confused.
“Because I didn’t want to worry you or Mom, besides in 2 and half years Julius and I will be going off to Hogwarts I’m sure I’ll make friends there”. Harry said cheerfully as the two parents looked at each other with concern.
“I see, Harry, we’ll talk more about this later, but for now I just want you to get some rest. You, Julius, and your father will be going out tomorrow to get your eyes examined and to get you some new glasses to replace the ones you lost today”. Lily said laying her youngest down to rest
“Okay Mom, Dad good night”. Harry said, going to sleep
“We are”? James asked in surprise
“You are”. She said with a glare leaving no room for argument, as the two left the room.
“But Lily, is now really the time to go shopping for glasses? We just found out our youngest son doesn’t have any friends besides his brother and people think he’s lying when he says he’s Julius’s twin because of those dumb books”. James asked, confused as to what his wife was planning
“I know, I know, but we need time to think and come up with a plan of what to do and we can’t do that in front of our distressed children”. Lilly said as she paced around their living room trying to think of something that would help Harry come out of his brother's shadow and make some friends that she didn’t know he had been lacking in.
Seeing his wife's plot, James shook his head fondly at his wife's beautiful temper that made him fall in love with her in the first place. “My, that’s very cunning of you Lily. Are you sure you weren’t meant to be sorted into Slytherin”? He asked, wrapping his arms around her body.
This caused Lily to smirk as she melted against his embrace, “Well I did have a slytherin as a friend for years so I learnt from the best. I just have no clue what to do with Harry”.
“Hmm, if only Dumbledore were here, he’s great with children I’m sure he would know what to do”. James said thinking aloud before pausing, “Wait, that’s it! How about while I take the boys to get our eyes checked out tomorrow, you visit Dumbledore and ask what he thinks we should do about Harry”.
This suggestion caused Lily to wince, thinking about all the “great advice” Dumbledore gave Severus over the years about his bullies and his home situation. As great a man Dumbledore was, giving good advice about kids always seemed to be one of his weaknesses. But if James suggested it then it wouldn’t hurt to at least ask for Dumbledore's opinion.
“Okay, I guess asking for his opinion couldn’t hurt, but just because Dumbledore suggests something doesn’t mean we'll do whatever he suggests, deal”? She said after a minute
“Deal my Lily”.