Walter and Harry

Anything you recognise belongs to J K Rowling

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Early Years

On 31 October 1981 twin fifteen month old boys were playing on the floor in the living room with their parents when a very unwelcome person came to the house. The boys were Harry and Walter Potter.

Their father James told their mother 'Lily, take the boys and go and I will hold him off'. As they knew who the intruder was. He was a very dark wizard and they had been in hiding from him but he must have been told where they were by a person they trusted.

Lily took the children up stairs and put them on the same bed so she could stand in front of them. They could hear fighting down stairs and soon there was a thump and Lily and the boys could hear someone coming up the stairs. An evil looking person with red eyes and a snake like face came in and turned to the boys. He smirked at the boys and said 'Which one will go first' 'Not the boys, take me but please leave the boys' said Lily. 'Stand aside girl' he said.

But she would not so he flicked his wand and she fell. The red head boy started screaming as the intruder turned toward them so he hid behind his black haired brother and held on to him. 'Do you think you are going to get away by hiding behind your smaller brother? Well you are not. You will be next'. He then shouted and there was a green flash that only the black haired boy saw. It went to the forehead of the little boy and knocked him back so he fell and landed behind the bed and rolled under it. In the process he knocked the red head to the side of him. Then the intruder let out a scream and disappeared.

There was an explosion and parts of the ceiling fell down and as little Harry, the black haired child was under the bed nothing fell on him but Walter, the red head had items fall on him and he was bleeding when people came round. James and Lily regained consciousness and picked Walter up and saw that he had been injured. They also heard that he had been injured as Walter did not suffer in silence, he never had. They looked round for Harry and found him under the bed and he seemed to be confused and limp.

Once everyone had recovered Walter had noticeable scars on body, including his face and Harry had a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead but it was covered by his fringe so there was nothing to see. It was then made known that somehow Walter had defeated Voldemort and he became known as the boy who lived.

Little changes started to take place in the household after that. Walter had always been a more demanding child than Harry but they used to try to treat them the same. Now Walter was given first preference all the time. To start with they still treated Harry well and he had just as much love and affection, at least from his mother but when it came to choices Walter came first. As Harry was the smaller of the two he often wore clothes that his brother had grown out of. This was just common sense as they were still in reasonable order. Walter liked noisy games and Harry liked to be read to. Before that date Lily read to him a lot even if Walter did not like to listen. How she started to feel as if she was neglecting Walter so she played more with him although James had always spent more time with Walter and still did.

Just to make things more complicated Lily was pregnant and gave birth to another son on 11 April 1982 and they called him Damon. Fortunately he was a good natured baby and did not take up any more attention than a new baby needs to. But Walter was not impressed and was very jealous of the baby. Lily had to lock the door when she put Damon down for his sleep as Walter had been found holding a pillow over his head. Fortunately Harry saw it and yelled and Lily stopped it. She realised then that Walter would have to be watched but James thought it was just a random act and would not happen again.

Damon grew up to be a very outgoing fun child but did not demand attention the way Walter did. Harry played with him and tried to keep him away from Walter and that was easy to do as Damon was aware of what was going on and stayed with Harry or his mother. He also liked stories even though he could not understand them the way Harry could. Harry knew a lot of the stories by heart and could go through them with Damon as if he was reading. Damon was the image of James, with his black hair sticking up everywhere and the same colours in his hazel eyes. He was not big and fat like Walter so he was more like Harry that way.

Harry became very friendly with an old lady next door. The lady appeared to be a muggle but she was really a witch. She missed her grandchildren and almost adopted Harry as an extra one. The lady used to come out onto her back porch on sunny mornings and Harry would be straight over. The lady told him to call her Nana Rose and she always had a pile of books next to her when he came. She read to him every day and he was there for over an hour most days. Lily was so busy with Walter when Damon was having his sleep she did not even miss Harry at first. When Damon was big enough Harry took him next door with him and he played on the floor while Nana Rose read the books to Harry and then they would go through the easier picture books with Damon.

Damon became as close to Nana Rose as Harry and she sometimes took them shopping with her. Lily was happy about this as she needed a break with Walter being so demanding. She had told James how Walter was behaving badly and James said he needed extra attention as he was the boy who lived and the others would have to get used to it. Lily said she missed the others as they were always with the neighbour and she knew it started off because they were getting away from Walter. James said that proved that they were jealous and she should be strict with them or they would be trouble. Lily realised that James only had eyes for Walter and he was getting worse.

When the twins were almost five Lily started to teach them to read and Walter was not interested so Lily spent almost all the time trying to persuade him to learn and he just finished up having a tantrum. Nana Rose told Harry one morning that some of her grandchildren were coming to live across the road and others in a nearby street. She was so pleased because they had been living a long way away. Harry was sad and asked her if she would still love him and Damon. She hugged him and said that she thought of both of them as her grandchildren and thought they would all be going to the local school together.

When Harry got home he asked his mother if he could go to school and as she had gone to school herself she thought it was a good idea. James was surprised and said that magical people usually homeschooled their children. They asked Walter what he wanted and he did not want to go so James said they should stay home and be homeschooled. This time Harry put his foot down and said he did not care what Walter wanted to do but he wanted to go to school. Walter hit him and said that Harry was not going to go to school because he was not the boy who lived so he always had to do what Walter wanted. Harry poked his tongue out and told him he was nasty and he wanted to go to school to make nice friends.

James told Harry off for saying such things to Walter and Harry said Walter had hit him and that was not the only time and he wanted to play with nice people and Walter was not nice. Lily realised they had been spoiling Walter and agreed that Harry could go to school if he liked. Damon was a little nervous about Harry not being there but Harry told him he could still go to see Nana Rose and he was happy then. There was still over two months before he would be starting anyway as his birthday was in the middle of the summer holidays.

Shortly after that, on 28 June 1985 Lily gave birth to a little girl and they called her Myra. Harry and Damon both loved the little girl but Walter was jealous. Harry and Damon were still going in to see Nana Rose and were becoming friends with her 'other' grandchildren. The others accepted them quite happily and they became good friends. They spent most of the summer playing with their friends and when September came Harry started at the local school. He wore clothes that Walter had grown out of but he did not care as none of the other children had seen them. He made lots of friends and learned everything very quickly. When he was making his way to their house after school Walter was regularly having a tantrum and Damon was next door.

By Christmas Lily was fed up with Walter and said he should go to school. Walter lay on the ground and kicked and screamed and said he did not want to go. Harry did not want him to go either as he loved getting away from Walter. They hardly ever spoke to each other and Lily found she was hardly ever seeing Harry or Damon. She realised that Walter was a spoilt little brat and thought it was her own fault. James still did not agree even after Harry had gone back to school and there was trouble at home. Lily got up and gave Harry his breakfast and saw him out to the gate where he met the other children. She was carrying Myra and Damon was with them. Harry gave them all a kiss and went on his way and Damon ran in to Nana Rose. Walter did not realise school was back after the holidays and when he got up he punched Myra and made her cry. Lily told him off and was mad with him all day. That night when she told James Walter said it was Harry and James believed him and smacked Harry and Walter smirked. Harry told James that he hated him and how could he have done it if he was at school. He was smacked again for saying that and sent to his room. Lily was out of the room at the time and when she found out she was furious. James would not say he was sorry to Harry and Harry would not speak to him or Walter. Damon saw the whole thing and was on Harry's side.

Harry started to go to Nana Rose every day after school as her 'other' grandchildren did because their parents were working. Damon was always there and was often playing with little cars. Nana Rose had a large house and she had been on her own since her children had grown and her husband died. She read to all the children and listened to them reading to her. Harry was doing very well. He and Damon did not go home until tea time and after tea they went straight to the room they shared. Walter had his own as he felt he deserved it but no one wanted to share with him anyway. Lily started going in after Harry and Damon and they read together for a while and Harry helped her with the baby as James spent time with Walter. Harry avoided both of them like the plague. Myra loved both Harry and Damon and was scared of Walter.

The end of the school year came and Harry got a very good report. Lily went to see the teacher but James was not interested as he was not used to any school other than Hogwarts. Walter could not read at all yet but James thought he was brilliant and wanted to start teaching him about magic. He did not know that the lady next door was a witch and her grandchildren were magical. He also did not know that someone had gone round to the school and made it an area where magic could not be done. It meant it was safe for the magical children to be there without any chance accidental magic.

Harry and Damon were invited to go away with Nana Rose's family for two weeks in July. The Potters were not going away at all as Lily was going to have another baby in early August. Myra would be less than fourteen months old. Harry and Damon had a good time staying away on the beach. The family had a small holiday house and there were twelve of them so they took turns to sleep in the house and some slept in a tent outside. Harry and Damon had never done that before but Harry made sure that when he went home he only told his mother as Walter would have a tantrum. Damon seemed to understand although he was only four. Neither of them bothered to communicate with James unless they had to. They were never rude to James and Harry knew he would be hit if he was but they both kept out of his way.

At the end of July Harry and Walter turned six. Lily asked Harry what he wanted for his birthday and he wanted books so Lily found him some good books and was pleased that at least one of them was interested in reading. On the day Harry wanted to ask his school friends around but James said he could not. Harry thought about it and decided it was a good idea as Walter would only cause trouble so he said nothing. James bought a toy broomstick for Walter and after they had a birthday tea with their godfathers James went off with Walter and Sirius Black, who was Harry's godfather and Remus Lupin, who was Walter's godfather and found a place close to their house where they could go flying. He did not even consider taking Harry or Damon. Harry did not mind and the next day Nana Rose put on another party for him to invite his friends to at her place. Sirius had married a French woman three years before and they had a baby son but his wife was away showing the baby off to her family over the summer.

On 5 August 1986 Lily gave birth to another baby girl. They called her Adele and Lily was quite tired after the baby was born so James said that Harry and Damon should go and stay with her sister Petunia and Lily said neither of them were any trouble but she wished Walter could go somewhere as he was a spoilt little brat and she felt frightened for the little girls with him around. Walter went to stay with the Weasley's and James said at the table that only he could go as Harry was a squib and would not fit in with a magical family. Lily was not in the room at the time and Harry did not say a word but Walter smirked.

When Walter had been away only two days Mrs Weasley suddenly appeared in the fire place and asked if they usually had behaviour problems with Walter. Only James was there as Lily was nursing the baby and Harry and Damon were helping with Myra. James said that Walter was a good boy but Harry and Damon were jealous of him and were a problem. Mrs Weasley came through and went up the stairs to speak to Lily. When she walked in the door she saw Harry and Damon playing with Myra and realised she had not seen Harry since he was a baby and had never seen Damon. Walter had been to Daigon Alley plenty of times but Harry and Damon did not go. She spoke quietly to Lily about Walter's tantrums and Lily agreed and also said that Harry was a lovely child but ever since this boy who lived business James was not interested in Harry. Molly asked if Harry was a squib and Lily said she did not know as he was still only young. Molly suggested she take them to a healer as she felt when she saw Harry that he was not a squib although James said he was.

Lily had to have baby Adele checked and Harry, Damon and Myra all went with her the next day as Walter was still away. Harry was found to be very powerful and the healer also queried his scar as she said it was a curse scar and it looked as if Harry might be the boy who lived and not Walter. Damon was also checked and found to be magical but it was too soon to see if he would be very powerful. Lily did not tell James straight away as she was so busy with the little girls. Harry was lovely to have around and Lily was dreading Walter coming home but was feeling embarrassed about imposing on Molly. When Walter came home to the Potter's Molly asked Harry and Damon to stay with them for a few days. They had a good time and Molly could not believe that Walter and Harry were twins. They taught Harry how to ride a broom and he was very good at it. When they told James he was furious and he told them that he was not allowed to ride a broom as that was only for Walter. Molly exploded and told him Harry was a lovely little boy and he should be grateful to have him.

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