the boy that could have been

I'M A WHAT?!

"I- you- what?" Exclaimed Harry, looking at his parents in disbelief.

They were sat in the kitchen in Padfoot's house (who the hell calls their kid Padfoot anyway), and Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. This had to be a prank, surely?

"We're not messing with you," Lily said softly, "I know it can be a bit... shocking. But think carefully, have there been times when you're scared, or upset, or angry, and weird things have happened to you? Things that my sis- I mean, that Vernon and Petunia punished you for?"

Harry's forehead furrowed as he tried to remember. Thinking about it, a lot of weird things had happened to him.

"I- I guess." he mumbled, "I mean, only a few weeks ago I accidentally set a snake on Dudley..."

James let out a bellow of laughter and clapped Harry on the back.

"Atta boy! That's what I'm talking about!" 

Harry grinned shyly, but faltered when he saw Lily glaring at James (which she seemed to do a lot, although he also seemed to mess around a lot, so it made sense).

"James! It's okay now because he can't control it, but you shouldn't encourage things like that! Anyway, Harry, are things starting to make a bit more sense now?"

"I mean... I guess... but I can't be a wizard! I'm just Harry!"

"Son." James said firmly, all traces of laughter suddenly gone from his face, "You are a hell of a lot more than 'just Harry'. And besides, you're our son, you're gonna have a lot of power, don't you worry."

Harry chewed the inside of his lip. It sort of made sense. I mean, how else could he have turned his teacher's wig blue, or regrown a full head of hair overnight? How else could they have teleported to this place and seen a house grow out of thin air? And how else could James have produced a horse from his pocket? But it just seemed so... fantastical. He shut his eyes tightly.

"Are you sure I'm not dreaming? I must be dreaming. Magic isn't real, Uncle Vernon always made that very clear. And you - you're dead! I don't have parents! And if I do, then why on earth would they abandon me on a doorstep and leave me for ten years? I made a wish, then I fell asleep and had a weird dream, just like with the motorcycle. That's all! I'd like to wake up now please!"

Harry opened his eyes again, fully expecting to see the inside of his cupboard, but instead he saw two sad-looking faces staring at him. This time, James also had tears in his eyes. Okay, they had to be real. He had only met his father about half an hour ago, but it was clear that he was the joking type. He wouldn't cry over just nothing.

"I'm so sorry Harry." James said, voice breaking slightly, "If we could have been there, we would have been. I don't even know how to - Lily?" He turned towards his wife, eyes full of desperation. Lily let out a humourless laugh.

"Always leaving the hard jobs to me Jamie? Harry darling, we only woke up yesterday. Before that, the last thing I remember is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named coming. Then suddenly, we woke up yesterday. Dumbledore woke us. He told us it had been ten years, and where to find you, then he said he'd go get Sirius and bring him home, then that was it."

Harry sat in silence for a moment, not knowing how to process this information. Nothing in his life made sense anymore.

"So, what you're saying is that everybody except this Dimbledawn guy thought you were dead, and he abandoned me with the Dursleys then woke you up and said he needed to be serious now and left?"

Despite everything, James couldn't help chuckling, and even Lily cracked a slight smile.

"Not quite, honey." she said, "Firstly, it's Dumbledore. Like the elephant Dumbo, and a door, except its Dumble and its D-O-R-E.", Harry blinked bemusedly and Lily pulled a face at herself before continuing, "Okay, I'm aware that didn't make much sense. To be honest, we don't really know what happened. Dumbledore woke us up and once we knew where you were, we didn't stick around for explanations. I doubt that Albus - that's Dumbledore's first name - would have left you with them if he'd known we were alive this whole time."

"Then why did he say he needed to be serious now?" Harry asked confusedly, causing James to laugh again.

"Not serious, Sirius. That's Padfoot's real name, the guy whose house we're in. I don't know why he isn't here or where he's been, but hopefully he'll turn up soon."

And, as if by magic, they heard a door slam open, and a man called out joyously, "Honey, I'm home!"