A Christmas Wish

Chapter 2 “Meet Harrison Regulus Black”

Harry returned home loaded with Formula books on kitten care and a basket carrying his new family. He was Lucky he had no guest coming in today as his morning outing took 5 hours longer than he had anticipated but he didn’t care they were worth it. The healer showed him how to feed and bathe the kittens like their mother would have done and told him to keep them on a strict schedule as they still so young they needed to constantly eat. Harry smiled as he watched the two kittens slept like Yin and Yang. Silver was a boy and slightly lager than his sister Belle but he cuddle close as if to protect her from the outside world. Harry would have to tell Hedwig and Zephyr the kittens were not food. His two owls were out for the night hunting but would return soon as the winter nights were getting colder. After the War there had been an owl shortage as many had died during message interceptions so Harry agreed to lend Hedwig to a breeder to help raise the owl population. As gratitude they gave him an owl from one of her clutches. Harry had been surprised that his snowy white owl managed to produce a black owl which he named Zephyr.

“There seems to be a pattern here Black and white.” Harry smiled as he began to put the kitten supplies away and put fresh water out for the owls’ return. This was what he needed someone to love and care for. Since the War was over he had no one not even his supposed girlfriend. Ginny wanted him to be a hero 24/7. She wanted to be famous and rich and to get into the pure-blood society that she was denied all her life, because her family was poor. What better way than to be the girlfriend and future spouse of Harry Potter? Harry didn’t want the spot light he was tired he just wanted peace. During his training he discovered he could control his magic core. He could make his magic levels raise or lower depending on how much he wanted to show his enemies. So as he healed he kept his magic levels as average as possible if not lower. The report read that it was a side effect of his battle with Voldemort. Shortly After that was released to the press Ginny came to visit him in the hospital wing.

“I’m sorry Harry but I’m breaking up with you. I have to think of my future happiness. I don’t think you can make me happy if you can’t even do a simple Summoning charm. I mean really if you’re not an auror what good are you? You have no other skills and not enough magic to fly a broom so Quidditch is out of the question. This is for the best, Good-bye Harry.”

Ginny left and he made no attempt to stop her or beg for her to stay. She ended up marrying Zabini who is rich and will inherit a bloody fortune from his mother, who made quite a living off of her numerous dead husbands. It was funny Ginny swore all the time how Slytherins were slimy stuck up bastards now she was married to one of them. Money seems to change everyone’s opinions. Ginny had everything she ever wanted now. She had a name, money and fame there was no need to love Harry.

Christmas was the time of year when the past can creep up on a person. Harry Potter and his life were gone and better off left in the past. That didn’t stop the memories from popping up now and again. He had to remind himself that he was Harrison Regulus Black now all traces of Harry Potter were dead and buried. He knew the name was not too original, but then no one would really care to look for him. They only knew that Harry Potter checked into St. Mungo’s and never checked out. He took the name of Regulus after he discovered the dairy of the Black that was once a Death-eater. He was never a true Death-eater he wanted Sirius to be proud of him because he loved and idolized his older brother. He wanted to be part of the order and help Sirius so he became a Death-eater and a spy, but he would only report to his brother because he was the only one he trusted. Unfortunately he was found out and made to place a Horcux in a hiding place and to die of its cruse. He was able to switch the artifact and with his last breath Regulus gave it to Sirius. Harry wanted to honor that trust and family love so change his name to Black.

Creating Harrison Black was easy killing Harry Potter wasn’t. He checked himself in with severe Flu Symptoms under the glamour of his former 14 year-old self as the Papers seem to only print Pictures from the Tri-wizard Tournament. Their reprints worked in his favor as he no longer looked anything like that now. Thank to the Weasley twins skive snack boxes he kept up the ruse till his name change papers came through. Once he left he sent an anonymous letter to the Daily Prophet saying that Harry Potter had died from Magic Poisoning left over from his battle with Voldemort. Once the story had been printed he received the scariest visit of his life as a raging Snape and a heart broken Lupin came through the floo.

Flash Back

“POTTER!!! You had better be dead or I am going to make you wish you were!” Snape roared as he came charging through the floo with Remus following wearily behind him.

“P-p-p-professor Snape! Professor Lupin! What are you doing here?” Harry had fallen on to the floor from the couch when he heard his former Teacher yelling for him. Now he was trying to scurry away from the angry potion master.

“We came here looking for the body of Harry Potter. The Paper said that you were dead. I knew that this was impossible since I had healed you myself and found no traces of Magic Poisoning in your system. When we went to claim you’re your ‘Body’ this morning you can imagine our surprise when it looked nothing like you. You hadn’t looked like that since you were fourteen! So tell us. What is going through your small mind? Do you know the heart ache that you caused putting Lupin and myself through this pain and trouble of planning and the prospect of attending your funeral?!” It was true his looks had changed dramatically since the final battle. He no longer needed glasses and due to the magic backlash his right eye was blood red and had a silted pupil like a snake’s eye. He grew out his hair to shoulder length and kept it combed over his eye as not to scare others. Also his scar and vanished since the bastard was dead and he could blend in with the crowd easily.

“I’m s-s-sorry s-sir!” Harry stammered. “I didn’t want to be Harry Potter anymore. Everywhere I went they wanted the Miraculous Hero, who saved them from evil, who was going to be an auror, and kill all the death eaters still out there. They wanted me to fix their problems and wanted me to bring back their lost loved ones. I couldn’t take it any more they all wanted more than I could give!” Harry just broke into raging sobs Remus was instantly by his side wrapping his arms around the crying teenager and rocked him. He whispered soothing words to the boy trying to get him to calm down till the sobs became little hiccups. “I checked into St Mungo’s till I finished legally changed my name to Black then I left the golem there and planted the story. I didn’t think it would matter to anyone. No one noticed me after the finale battle why would they notice now?”

Lupin looked sadly from the teen in his arms to Snape. They had both known, to whom Harry was referring to. The young Gryffindor had been shattered and they knew that he felt that he was alone. In Harry’s eyes adults are authority that manipulates you till they get what they are after and they have no emotional attachments to you. Children of the same age were viewed as people that empathized and cared about you and they were people whose approval you needed or you were nothing.

“Potter… I mean Black.” Snape kneeled down beside the two Gryffindors and placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder. “We did notice and we were very upset by the news. We raised you and trained you and we don’t want anything to happen to you and neither do the Weasley twins. They are very distraught with grief right now, we’ll explain things to them and they will keep your secret but be prepared for their retaliation of pranks. They care about you very much and are going to be upset you tricked them. Now to prevent this from happening again you will write us and the twins letters once a week till we say other wise.”

“Yes sir.” Harry sniffled as he slumped his shoulders in defeat. Remus looked sadly at the boy in his arms. He knew his godson saw this as a punishment and not the four people who cared the most about him just wanted him to be safe. It was going to take years to undo the damage the Dursley’s had caused, but at least this was a start. It was a fresh start for all of them.

“We understand why you did it Harry, but we wish you would have come to us first. Severus is right you hurt us very deeply. Please don’t do this again.” Remus hugged Harry tightly as if to push his love into the boy.

“Yes Sir.”

“Now we’ll deal with the press and bury the hero, but we expect a letter from you by the end of the week you hear me?” Remus smiled and wiped away the tears that were still falling from Harry’s eyes.

“Yes sir.”

End Flashback

Yes that was a very scary and emotional afternoon but it had been good in away he found four people that truly cared for him even if someone the Twins pranks nearly killed him for real. They had been very upset that they set howlers with hexes attached to them and also sent products that would activate when opened. After about two weeks they calmed down and thought about it from Harry’s point of view. They agreed to keep his secret as long he promised to never do that again or else. He shuttered to think of what that meant. Harry was pulled out of past by the sound of the kittens wanting to be fed. They were so cute and tiny. He smiled as he fed them and once they were both full he laid them back in their basket.

“I guess I should write to the professors and the twins about my new room mates.” He sighed as he pulled out some fresh parchment. He wrote about his discoveries in muggle London and how happy he was to have them and take care of them. He suddenly stop writing because realized he was crying. Tears began to rain upon the letter before him and he couldn’t stop them. His bottled up emotions were finally coming out. The one thing that he had been lying to himself about was how lonely he really was. He wanted someone to love and care for. He wanted them to love him, Harry, not the hero or the made up fiction person the press and others made him out to be, but the real Harry. He had some much love to give in his heart that it hurt; that there was no one there who wanted his love.

“No I will not wallow in myself pity any longer. If I want to end this loneliness then I have to do something about it.” Abounding his letters he pick up the basket of kittens and headed to the Manors Library. It there was any thing that he learned from hanging around Granger it was how to research.