Harry's Twin Brother

Disclaimers: Refer to the first page.
Harry followed his brother out of the hall, all the while aware of the eyes staring at them. In the past, he would have hated the feelings, but now, with his brother besides him, he felt safe.
Once they were out of the hall, Harold led them to a secluded corner. He mentally cast a ‘notice-me-not’ charm around the area. Though common, it was effective enough. Sometimes, simple measures were the best options. Besides, even if someone saw through the charm, it didn’t matter since they would not be able to follow any further. Then, he shadow-walked them to the Potter suite. If anyone saw them, they would seem as if they were swallowed by shadows and just like that, disappeared and then appeared again in a beautiful, large and elegant suite.
“I thought one cannot apparate in Hogwarts,” Harry said, surprised. He noticed that as soon as they arrived, the four bodyguards had taken their leave quietly. They also seemed to know their way around. He filed this information to be asked later.
Harold smiled. “It’s not apparate. This is called ‘shadow-walk’. The shadow is like a door to another side and I can control the destination. All I need is to walk into the shadow and I will arrive at the destination. As there are shadows everywhere, there’s nowhere I can’t go.” He took hold of Harry’s hand and led him to their room.
When Harry saw their room, his eyes nearly feel out. There was no word to describe it. It was elegant and homely. In the middle was a king-sized bed. The walls were the closets with sliding doors. There was a door at the end of the room. It was probably the bathroom. There were two tables near where they stood, against the wall. Besides the tables and chairs, there was a big rack. Like the closets, the rack was not hand-made cupboard, built-in or otherwise. It was a part of the castle itself. It was as if when the room was designed, it was designed with to have all the closets for clothes and rack for books. There was even a balcony attached to their room. It was exactly like the rich manor type that he had seen when sneaked a peek at the TV when he was young. The glass doors were covered with dark green curtains. All in all, the room was magnificent.
He was so busy staring at the room that he did not realize that his brother had closed the door behind them.
“I guess from your reaction that you like the room?” Harold teased, jerking Harry out of his shock.
“This is…” Harry gestured at the room wildly, unable to express his feelings with words. Although to some, this room might not be much, but to him, who had lived in the cupboard under the stairs, this was a room fit for a king! Then something occurred to him. “I thought that we are sharing a room?”
Harold nodded. “Yes, this is our room while we are in Hogwarts.”
Harry shiftedhis legs uneasily. “Then why is there only one bed?”
“Because we are going to share it. Why? Is there a problem?” Harold knew that Harry had never slept with another before but he had to get used to it now.
Having his suspicion confirmed, Harry could only nod and accept it. Ever since the events in the Department of Mysteries, he had been having nightmares every night. With a bed mate, he might disturb him; but he did not know how to reject his brother.
“Don’t worry about it. Come, we have lots to talk about,” Harold once again took hold of Harry’s hand and gently tugged him to the bed.
When they had sat down on the bed side by side, a tray of food appeared in front of them.
“Come on. Let’s eat. I will tell you all about me while eating.”
While they were eating, Harold started telling Harry about what had happened. “!& years ago, when Lily Potter got pregnant, there was a disturbance in the magic but only the powerful ones felt it, which included Albus Dumbledore. He went to check up on Lily and found that she was pregnant with a pair of twins. One is enough to become as powerful as him but together, they would have become the most powerful beings to ever exist. Sohe started making plans. He planned to kill one of the twins and keep the other as his weapon. Without anyone’s knowledge, he made up a prophesy that you would be the one to defeat the Dark Lord. And a few nights after that, he went to Potter Manor in the pretence to discuss the Prophesy. He drugged the Potters with the Sleeping Draught then he used a charm to kill one of the twin.”
Harry gasped, horrified. He never suspected that the Headmaster would do something like this. Yes, he had figured the Headmaster was manipulative but never….this.
“The spell worked. I died,” Harold started in a calm tone.
”But…that’s not possible. You’re still here!”
Harold smiled. “Yes, it’s possible. You see, before my soul could depart, your magic clung to me fiercely, not letting me go. Throughout the whole pregnancy, the only thing that kept me alive is your magic. Little by little, as the cells divide, your magic once again built a body for me. Many times I would have given up if not for you. Only when I was born was I considered ‘alive’ because then, I was able to function like a normal baby wizard, having a life force of my own. However, your magic force was significantly weakened due to your efforts at keeping me alive. Even now, your magic has not recovered nor will it ever; I do not think that Dumbledore noticed this. Nevertheless, you are still above average.”
Harry was silent hearing this. He did not know what to say or think.
Harold continued his story, “When I was born, Dumbledore realized that I had survived. He came that night and took me away, erasing Lily and James’ memories, including the midwife’s. He placed in the orphanage, not willing to risk a magical backlash by killing me, magically or otherwise. My magic has already recovered by then. At the orphanage, I grew up remembering everything that had happened. I never let myself forget. I had a mind link with you too, you know,” Harold smiled gently.
“A mind link?” Harry asked, confused. He thought about the connection between Voldemort and him; and shivered in fear.
“It’s not that kind of mental link. Ours is the link between magical twins. Only, because of our ‘experience’, we have a very much stronger bond than most. We could probably talk to each other mentally, no matter how far away. We could see through the other’s eyes. I did it all the time, you know. I merged myself with you sometimes, wanting to stay near you even though I can’t physically.” Harold tightened his hands into fists.
Harry kept silent. He felt uneasy at the confession.
“I learnt everything I that I could – from languages, maths, business, martial arts, and weaponries, magic – everything I can teach myself from the books and schools, observing others, and taking classes. I swore to myself that I would become powerful and then I would come for you and I did it. At eleven, I started doing some odd jobs for the adults and earned a little money which I doubled with magic. This was how I got through my life until a few days ago. I have finally come of age to inherit the Potter Family fortune. We are now millionaires.”
“How is that possible? I thought nobody knew of your existence! And what fortune?” Harry asked, puzzled.
“Magic, Harry, magic. Our family is very old. It has always been inherited by the first born son. The Goblins in charge of Inheritance will know straight away as soon as the heir is born. You would not know about the fortune or the veto power we, as Potters have over the decision made by the Ministry since I doubt Dumbledore would let you escape his control,” Harold said bitterly.
Harry fidgeted. His brother really hated the Headmaster. As for himself, he blamed the Headmaster but he did not hate him. He had trusted him for so long now that he couldn’t really believe all these without hearing his side of story first. However, no matter what his story was, he was sure that he knew the existence of his twin all this while. He would never forgive him for keeping it secret.
Harold reached over and hugged Harry tightly. “I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore. They will pay,” Harold whispered.
For the first few minutes, Harry held himself tensely in the embrace. Then he loosened; his eyes wet from tears. For the first time in his life, Harry hugged his brother and cried on his shoulder, letting go of his emotions and cried out everything; the injustice, Dumbledore, the Dursleys, his brother’s hard life, and also his own. Harold did not say anything, he just held him gently and let him cry. After about an hour, his tears finally subsided and stopped, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he clung to his brother even tighter.
Another hour passed before Harry finally spoke, “Why can you see through my eyes when I did not even feel your existence?”
“That’s because Dumbledore put a mind ward on you. It blocked all your mental link to others except Voldemort since that linked was formed after he had placed the ward. I could lift it if you want, and close your link to Voldemort forever,” Harold offered cautiously. He knew that the business of the mind was a delicate issue, especially to a private person like his baby brother.
Harry considered the pros and cons. On one hand, he would be free of Voldemort. On the other, he would have another link with his brother. He asked himself whether he trusted him or not. In the end, he reached one conclusion – yes, with his life. He nodded his head. “I would like it lifted, please.”
Harold smiled, knowing the significance of this answer: he had Harry’s trust and he was a step closer to his precious brother. “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt. Just look into my eyes and trust me.”
Harry took a deep calming breath and looked into Harold’s eyes. He could feel himself loosen up a bit and suddenly and then, suddenly, a presence went into his mind sharply without warning, breaking through the wall he never knew was there. He could feel the wall crumbling, the pieces dissipating. Soon, it was thoroughly destroyed. He could feel the mental link to his twin and the darker one to Voldemort.
‘How are you, Harry?’ Harold asked him mentally.
‘Better now. Could you please remove my link to Voldemort?’ Harry pleaded. He did not want it even a second longer than he had to.
‘OK.’
Harry could feel his twin merging with him and beginning to purge his mind of the unwanted link. He pushed the dark magic through the link back to Voldemort and replaced them with his own magic. Soon all the magical link was replaced with a stronger one to his twin. Harry was amazed at what his twin had done. He felt freer than he could remember all his life.
‘Harry, I’m going to build a mental wall around your mind. It will hold off any average intrusion and alert both of us of it. However, this is only a temporary solution. Tomorrow, I will start teaching you Occlumency.’ Harold could feel that his baby twin was going to protest, so he quickly interrupted, ‘Don’t worry, my method is different from Snape’s. Mine is easy to learn and before you know it, you’ll be a Master Occlumen and Legilimen.’
Harry nodded reluctantly. He knew that he had to learn one way or another.
“Of course, there are also lots of other subjects I want to teach you: multi-animagi, shadow-walk, Ancient Arts, Martial Arts, war strategies, politics, and lots more. Although I’m no expert, since I’m also still learning from the books I found in the Potter Vault, I will teach you as much as I can. We can even learn together,” Harold spoke out loud. “Thus, we will only take Potions, DADA, Arithmancy, and Healing. All others, I can teach you.”
“But I never took Arithmancy before. Besides, I want to take Care of Magical Creatures. If not, Hagrid will feel that I have abandoned him. He’s my first friend,” Harry protested.
“Even if you did not take Arithmancy before, I can teach you the basic. As for CoMC, the class is a joke; although the others are as well. You could always visited him, you know. It’s not as if I’m going to lock you up here,” Harold teased him. In truth, he did not feel happy that Harry wanted to continue CoMC. He wanted to have his undivided attention.
Harry nodded thoughtfully. “Alright. I guess we couldn’t add more to our schedule as it was already tighter than was healthy. Can’t we just drop DADA and take up CoMC? It’s taught by Malfoy anyway. I really do not want to be anywhere near him,” Harry pleaded.
Harold shook his head. “No. We have to take DADA; it’s a compulsory subject.”
“Oh, yes. I forgot that,” Harry conceded, defeated.
“Don’t worry about him. He might be a Malfoy and magically, a little bit above average, he’s nowhere near as powerful as me; or even you, for that matter, once you learned to use it, now that the mind ward is destroyed. It’s what that has kept your power so unbalanced. Besides, I will not let anyone hurt you.”
Harry nodded. He guessed Harold was right. It’s not as if he would not be able to visit Hagrid. Suddenly, he thought of something. “How come the bodyguards seem like they knew of this place before hand? I mean, they knew their way around the suite!”
Harold smiled. “We had explored the suite a few hours before the meal. Comeon. Go take a bath and sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow to start you on your lessons. We have only a week before classes start. In that one week time, you should have learnt to shadow-walk, the basic of multi-animagi and Occlumency.”
“But I wouldn’t be able to do that in a week’s time!” Harry protested.
Harold just smiled at him. “Yes, you can. I will teach you. Come on. Don’t worry about the lessons.” Harold took hold of Harry’s hand and gently tugged him to the bathroom. “You first. I will unpack.” He pushed Harry in and closed the door. Next, he wandlessly opened Harry’s trunk. He summoned the books into the bookcase besides Harry’s study table while the more personal things like the photo album of their parents was put on the study table and Harry’s wand on the table besides the bed. Other than that, he burnt everything: the clothes, the underwear and the trunk. He had a complete wardrobe for his baby twin inside the closet. Those hand-me-downs did not suit Harry. He would only have the best that he could give him.
Satisfied with his work, Harold personally picked up underwear and pyjamas for his brother. They were made of magical silk thread like the rest of the wardrobe; only the best, after all. He laid them neatly on the bed together with his own. He stood there looking at the sight of the clothes side by side, a satisfied smile on his face. He swore to himself that he would not let anyone take Harry away, ever! Suddenly, the sound of the bathroom door opening jerked him out of his thoughts. He turned over to find Harry standing with a towel wrapped around his lower part at the doorway, looking at him shyly. With his more feminine body shape, Harold admitted that his baby brother was the prettiest boy he had ever seen.
“Umm…I forgot to bring my clothes.” Harry shuffled his feet in embarrassment. He had never let anyone see him with only a towel around him.
“I have laid out your clothes. The emerald set is yours.” Harold pointed to the bed.
Harry looked at the clothes. “But that’s not mine. I did not own such clothes.”
“I have bought a complete wardrobe set for you before I came here. They all come with self-adjusting sizes so that wouldn’t be a problem. I have arranged your books inside your bookcase besides the table, the photo album on your study table, and your wand’s on the table beside the bed. Your clothes from the Dursleys, I have burnt them. Your new clothes are in the closet; yours to one side and mine to the other. The ones that consisted of mostly black and white clothes are mine but you’re welcome to them as well. All our clothes have the Potter crest on them: a thorny twig crawling around a black rose.”
Harry did not know what to say. He had never had any new clothesexcept school robes. “Thank you,” he said quietly. The he walked to the bed, eager to see the crest. As he walked near Harold, he was taken by surprise when his older twin gave him a quick peck on his forehead and walked into the bathroom. Harry did not know how to react, so he shrugged it away. Anyway, it gave him a warm feeling; one of being loved and wanted. He changed his clothes, a smile on his face and climbed onto the bed. He closed his eyes, still basking in the warm feeling when the bathroom door opened. The sight that met his eyes was breathtaking. Unlike him, Harold’s body was more muscled. He looked so handsome – like a true man. Even when he was changing his clothes, Harry did not look away. He had a feeling that his brother knew that he was watching.
When Harold had climbed onto the bed, Harry closed his eyes again, attempting to sleep when a thought suddenly occurred to him. His eyes snapped open and he clung onto his brother. “This is not a dream, is it? The next morning, you would not disappear and everything returned to normal, would you?” He knew that he sounded like a scared three-year-old but he did not care. He could be whatever he wanted to be in front of his twin.
Harold hugged his brother tighter to him with his right hand over Harry’s waist and let his head rest on his shoulder. “I’m real and you won’t get rid of me so easily. Before long, you would complain that I do not give you any time to yourself,” Harold joked, half serious.
Harry relaxed a bit. He shook his head. “No, I would not. I don’t want you to leave me.”
Harold smiled and gave another peck on Harry’s forehead. “Go to sleep, Harry. I don’t want you tired out tomorrow.” He discreetly cast a sleeping charm on Harry and waited until his breath evened out before casting a few strong wards over them. Finally, he let himself fall asleep as well.
To be contiued...
A/N: Why I chose 'Harold' for the brother? From this chapter, you can see that the twin's existence was never found out until now. Since they did not know he existed, they would not be able to give him name. Thus the same form of 'Harry'. Basically, it's also to link them together. And also because I'm lazy; don't want to go around looking for names. Now, do you like this chapter? Tell me!