The-Boy-Who-Lived/Neglected/Lied/Abounded/Betrayed/Fed Up/Left/Tortured /kills

A Father's Love

A/N: I love a well-written Harry as neglected twin story. The Sacrifices set of stories by Lightning on the Wave (multi-million word count) has quite a crafty Lily and clueless James. Unsung Hero offers up a brilliant Harry and a puffed up twin bolstered by clueless parents and Dumbledore. I wanted to try one where Harry isn't neglected, where at least one of his parents doesn't get caught up in the fame, where Dumbledore is more of a problem than Voldemort ever could be.

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Albus Dumbledore leaned down and plucked up a plump toddler from his crib. "Christopher Potter was hit with a Killing Curse – and he survived it…"

Here, a wounded, tired James Potter interrupted. "No." He wasn't hysterical; he wasn't in deep denial. His 'no' meant something else.

"What?" People didn't often disagree with Albus Dumbledore on questions of magic. He was, after all, one of the most powerful wizards in the world.

"No. I don't agree with your interpretation of the obvious facts…."

"Well, it's obvious…."

"No," James said again. "What's obvious is that Voldemort learned of our location from one of your Order members…."

"I'll have the Aurors look for Sirius Black."

James Potter shook his head. "We switched Sirius out for Peter. Sirius was to be the decoy, to draw attention away from Peter, but it seems Mr. Pettigrew, my one-time friend, was either tortured for the secret or willingly gave it up."

"Why didn't you tell me?" A touch of fury tinted Dumbledore's words. He didn't like being kept in the dark, even about something like this.

"It's my family's safety. It was a bad decision…this whole use of arcane spells to hide in plain sight was a bad idea."

"You agreed," Dumbledore said. "No buyer's remorse…."

"Fine, but I won't make the same mistake twice. Voldemort came here tonight, attacked our wards with help from a traitor, and perished in the magical backlash he accidentally created…."

Dumbledore looked confused. "No, James, I think you're confused. It's obvious that Voldemort died in the nursery…."

James shook his head. "It's obvious you're insistent on painting a target on one of my son's foreheads. Voldemort died as a result of overconfidence in his cursebreaking skills. Happens all the time with the high-end magical thieves. Forty percent mortality per year is the current estimate. That's the only story I will publicly support, Albus."

"But the people have a right to know…."

"No. My children have a right to safety and relative anonymity. You will not make them a target of whatever Death Eaters are still out there, do you hear me?"

"I think you're distraught. Rest up, help Lily heal from that nasty bump on her head…."

"You may tell people that Voldemort died and you're still investigating exactly how that happened. Say anything else, Albus, and I swear you won't like the consequences."

"Fine, James. We'll pick this conversation up tomorrow."

"You can meet me in the hunting lodge."