I don't own Harry Potter or any other recognizable character or idea. That's all JKR. More author notes at the end of the story.

As the Falling Rain

A loud knock startled Lin and Aidan. Both looked away from the television and towards the flat's main door. They then looked at each other. Aidan shrugged, letting his mother know that he wasn't expecting anyone. Lin muted the television and went to the door. She looked through the peephole, but it was blocked by something massive.

"Who is it?" Lin shouted through the door.

"Erh...Rubeus Hagrid, I'm here to talk to Harry Potter," said a thunderous voice.

Lin looked back at Aidan who was looking right back at her from his position on the couch. He shook his head.

"There is no one here by that name. You have the wrong address," Lin called out.

"But..but the letter," then she heard some rustling, "ah here, Mr H. Potter, Smallest Bedroom, Flat 23, 10 Mulberry Court, London. So, you see, he has to be here."

Hearing the stranger rattle off her son's room completely unrattled Lin. She dashed to the coat rack and grabbed the pepper spray she kept there. She turned back to the door and saw that her son already had an aluminum bat in one hand and the cordless in the other. She motioned for him to take cover and he nodded. He slid into the corridor leading to the kitchen but kept his eye on the door, thumb over the nine, and a tight grip on the bat.

"Sir, there is no one here by that name. Please leave." Her voice was strong, firm, unwavering. But her scared eyes darted to her darling boy.

Instead of a verbal response another loud knock was given, more violent this time. The door handle was rattled. Lin moved away from the door and yelled at the stranger, "Sir, go away or I will call the police."

SMASH! The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges, ripping the safety latch with it, and with a deafening crash landing on the laminate floor. A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. The giant squeezed his way into the flat, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. He turned to look at the frightened woman.

Shouts from the outside corridor could be heard. "Mrs Gordon...What was that? What's going on?"

Lin shouted at them as she bravely got closer to the giant and squeezed the trigger on the pepper spray bottle, "Burglar! Call the cops!" and kept spraying the man.

At that signal her son darted out from his hiding spot, placing the telephone - which was on - on the nearest surface. He rushed towards the giant and swung with all his might, hitting him in the knees. "Get away from my mother!" he shouted as he kept hitting the man who had moved further into the room in an effort to get away from the angry child and woman. In the meantime, Lin darted towards the entrance and grabbed the door handle. The front door promptly fell backwards towards her, she moved out of the way to let it fall on the floor once again. She looked up to see the confused and concerned faces of her neighbors. "Help!" she cried. They rushed in. With frying pans and brooms to the rescue.

As much as they tried, a handful of pensioners were no match for such a beastly man. Though their efforts were valiant the giant man had gotten away by the time the police arrived. At least no one was hurt during the scuffle aside from their rattled nerves.

The constables were taking statements while Mrs Yilmaz from number 20 was refilling mugs of tea to quench the brave fighters while Mr Yilmaz stood at the flat entrance as if on sentry duty.

"I could do with a donut," said Mr Harris from number 22 from his spot on the couch next to Aidan.

"I thought you said donuts were best for bereavement," asked Aidan as he sipped his tea.

Mrs Yilmaz patted his head and passed him a plate of biscuits.

Later that evening, Lin and Aidan were both tucked into her bed. She was too scared to let him sleep in his own room.

"Why was he looking for someone in my room?" whispered Aidan.

"I don't know. But for the last couple of days we've been getting letters in the mail for an H. Potter. I don't know that name, so I have been putting 'return to sender' for the postie and leaving them on top of the boxes to be collected. They're never there the next day so I assumed they were returned since the new letter does not have my note sending it back. Then that man shows up. I wish we could have caught him. A menace like that cannot be left out in society. He did tell me his name, if it was his real name, it was very strange. Rubeus Hagrid. He mentioned the letters so maybe he sent them. I don't know."

"Do you think that maybe I'm this Harry Potter he's looking for?"

"Even if you were, how would he know that?"

"Don't know, some sort of homing device."

"And how would that work?"

"By magic, of course!"

"Of course!"

The next night another loud knock startled Lin and Aidan. Both looked away from the television and towards the flat's main door. They then looked at each other. It was like Deja vu. Aidan turned off the television and darted towards the cordless and the bat. Lin went to door. She looked through the peephole. This time it was not blocked. She could see an older woman on the other side.

"Who is it?" Lin shouted through the door.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall. I'm looking for Harry Potter."

"Is this some sort of joke? Did you send that thug yesterday? I'm calling the cops," yelled Lin.

"I promise this isn't a joke. I am truly sorry about Hagrid, he doesn't realize how intimidating he can be."

"Go away! Harry Potter is not here."

"I believe he is. He's eleven years old, black hair, green eyes. I knew his parents."

"You're a stalker! Just like the psycho who was here yesterday!"

"No, I have his baby photos, with his parents before they died. I'll slip them under the door."

And she did. Several pictures of a smiling family. A woman with red hair and green eyes, a man with messy black hair and hazel eyes, cuddled between them a chubby happy baby. Lin gasped. Looking at the man was like looking at an older Aidan, except for the eyes. He had the woman's eyes.

"Who are you, really?" asked Lin in a shaky voice, tears in her eyes as she looked at the photos.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall. I'm the deputy headmistress at a boarding school in Scotland. I'm looking for Harry Potter as his name has been in our registry since birth. Both his parents attended the school and they wanted him to attend as well. I am here to talk to him about his admission."

"Why do you think that Harry Potter lives here?" Lin asked. Aidan had slipped out of the corridor and was looking at the photos as well.

"Can we discuss this face to face?"

"You're not coming in here! There is a coffee bar two blocks west from here. I'll meet you there in ten minutes. Now go, or I'll call the cops."

"Alright, ten minutes."

Lin watched through the peephole as the woman walked away.

It took a lot of convincing and endless free cups of water from the waiter for Lin to believe that Professor McGonagall was not crazy. Finally, Lin begrudgingly agreed to let her meet her son. When they arrived back in front of number 23, Lin knocked on the door instead of using a key.

"Who is it?" called out a child's voice.

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana," replied Lin and a confused Minerva looked on. Then the door opened, chain still on. A small pale face peered between the space, nodded, closed the door again and unlocked it.

"Sweetheart put the kettle on," instructed Lin as she stepped inside. The child disappeared. She locked the door and she directed McGonagall into the living room.

"What was that?" asked Minerva.

"What was what?" replied Lin as she sat on the loveseat keeping one eye on the stranger and another on the bat nearby.

"Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"

"Oh, that. The password to let him know that you did not force me to bring you here."

"WHAT? I would never!"

"Yes, well, your gamekeeper made quite the impression. Plus, it's just the two of us now, we have to be careful. And don't think you could use that code. We don't re-use them. So, if you try it he'll know you are an imposter or I'm under duress and act accordingly."

"That seems extreme."

"Says the woman who walks around with a deadly stick-weapon on her person all the time."

"Touché."

They waited in silence as the child reappeared with a tray of tea and biscuits. He passed around the refreshments and sat next to his mother. He looked at her expectantly.

"This is Minerva McGonagall. She teaches at a school, you heard that bit earlier. Well, it's a special school for witches and wizards. It seems your birth parents had magical abilities and she thinks you do as well."

"Can you prove this?" he asked calmly while looking at Minerva. He watched her turn the tea set into kittens with a wave of a stick right before his eyes. "Impressive," he complimented. His voice still calm, as if discovering magic was in fact real, an everyday occurrence.

"Thank you, Mr Potter. You are taking this quite well. Better than any student I've had to explain things to."

"Not Potter," Lin and Aidan said at the same time.

"Excuse me?"

"My name is not Potter. You can call me James, I'm named after my father," explained the child.

"James?" Minerva was quite pale now.

"Yes, my late husband. Jim, well, James. Why?"

"Harry's...erh...James' real father.." she was interrupted again.

"Jim was his real father," Lin replied, and Aidan nodded.

"Yes, yes of course. I meant…"

"The term we use is birth parents for foster and adopted children."

"Right. His birth father was James Potter. It took me by surprise that the man who raised you was also named James. Which is also your middle name."

"Coincidence, I'm sure," said Lin. "He was also named after the church where he was found."

"Yeah, Dad used to joke that I was lucky not to have been found at St Mary's which was just further down the road. Can you imagine a boy named Mary?" They all laughed at that.

"Oh, Jim and his corny dad jokes," Lin shook her head to clear her thoughts. "By the time we adopted him he was used to the name, so we kept it."

"So, I was named Harry? That's what you said before? And my birth parents were James and...?" he asked full of hope.

"Lily Potter, well, Lily Evans."

"Lily and James," he whispered to himself while taking his mother's offered hand in support. "And they had magic, and you think I have magic?"

"That is correct."

"How do you know I have magic?"

"Your name appeared in the Book of Admittance. Only children with magical abilities are listed."

"But how did you find me?"

"A magic quill addressed the envelopes."

"That's cool, I guess, but mostly creepy. So magic is real." Minerva nodded.

"Would it be too insensitive of me to inquire how you came to adopt James?" asked Minerva.

"You can go ahead sweetheart," Lin encouraged as she patted his knee.

"Alright. I don't remember the beginning since I was so little. I know I've been with mum since I was tiny, they think I was around two when I was found at the church."

"Fifteen months old," corrected Minerva in almost a whisper.

"Oh, that was close then," replied James and his mum gave him a sad smile. "How do you know that?"

"As I said earlier, I knew your parents. They passed away almost ten years ago, you were fifteen months old at the time. But please continue."

"Right. I was fifteen months old then, when I was found. It was the first of November. Who leaves a baby outside in November?! I could have died of hypothermia!" At this point both noticed Minerva paling but neither commented. "Of course, the police were called by the caretaker who found me, and then social care was alerted. They then arranged for a couple to take me in while they sorted out what to do with me. They had other foster kids back then. No one claimed me, so I never left, worked out for the best," he smiled at his mother as he finished bis tale.

Lin took over. "We officially adopted him when he was four. The rest were a lot older and had moved out by then. We decided he belonged to us. In our hearts we knew he was meant to be ours. Jim and I were very proud parents. I still am," she said as she caressed his messy black hair.

"Hey, I just thought of something. Does magic work on non-magical people? Like on my mum?"

"We call them muggles, non-magical people."

"Alright, that sounds kind of racist, but okay. And my question?"

"It depends on what kind of magic you mean."

"Well, is there a difference between magical medicines and non-magical? Like the flu-shot for example. Is there a magical flu shot that actually cures the flu? You know, unlike the shot that just covers a strand and needs to be administered every year? And if so, would it work on my mum?"

"Oh, I see. Well, potions are used in our world. And we do have a cure for the flu and yes it would work on your mother. The Wizarding World has cures for many muggle illnesses but that is also part of the reason we stay hidden. Everyone would want us to solve their problems for them, exploit us and our magic."

He nodded. "I can see that. So, do things like cancer, not exist in your world? Are there magical illnesses that are just as deadly? And do they affect muggles?"

"Cancer is a muggle illness. Wizards get wizarding illnesses. We don't get what they get, and they don't get what we get. You'll learn all about things like this later on. But yes, we can cure it."

Aidan was shocked. "No cancer?" he whispered in a sad voice.

"Oh dear, did something happen?" Minerva asked very concerned. "Did Jim…" she stopped, "Sorry, nevermind."

Lin answered. "No, it's okay. Jim died on the job a couple of years back. Someone else we knew had cancer. She and James had a very special bond."

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear. So much loss."

Aidan's teary voice spoke. "Dad died when I was six, he was a paramedic. Got stabbed while answering a call. Some nut job." He wiped his tears. "Mm…," he choked down a sob. He took a deep breathe. "Mel died almost two years ago. Stage 4, nothing they could do." Lin wrapped her arms around the little boy and rubbed his back.

"I had to quit my part time job when Jim died since they couldn't give me full time hours. I liked the boutique and it was nice working mornings so I could be home for James and the others after school and nursery. But I needed more money. A friend of mine got me a job at an engineering firm on the other side of town. It's a bit mind numbing, stuffing envelopes all day but it pays the bills along with the insurance settlement. Plus, lately I've been able to work from home so I can be around for James."

"Wait," James propped himself up. "How are we supposed to pay for a boarding school all the way in Scotland?"

Minerva then took out a letter from her pocket and give it to him. "That reminds me. This is what I am here to deliver."

He took the offered letter and then promptly gave it to Lin. At Minerva's confused look Lin answered as she opened it. "He is a child and it is irresponsible to give a child important documents before their parent or guardian can assess them. Aidan is quite aware of this." When Lin was done reading both sheets, she passed the letter on to her son. They waited as he read the letter once, then twice.

"I still don't see how I have magic. Also, why was I left at a church if my parents died? Don't wizards have social care services? What about my grandparents, aunts, uncles, a nosy neighbor? Someone must have known that I existed. And again, we can't afford this, even if you find cauldron's and wands at a charity shop, boarding schools are not cheap."

"Bear with me, I'll explain how you can afford it. It's not a happy story of course …," hedged Minerva.

After learning from Professor McGonagall that she was there when he was left at the Dursley's doorstep, Aidan wanted to toss his tepid tea at the woman. What kind of teacher was she! To not know that children should not be left outside, at night, in the cold! The only reason he was even thinking about going to the stupidly named school of magic was because it would give him an opportunity to learn about his birth parents world.

Lin made it very clear that she didn't trust McGonagall, Hagrid, nor Dumbledore with him. The Professor left instructions on getting to the Leaky Cauldron, Gringotts and Platform 9 ¾ then was promptly shown the door and told to not come back unannounced or she would get to the same welcome Hagrid met. The nerve of those people. They were also glad that they had used Aidan's middle name, James, when talking to Minerva and Lin never called him anything while they were at the cafe. No need to tell her their real names. The less she knew the better.

The following day found Lin and Aidan wandering around Diagon Alley collecting all the items on the school list plus extra to help them get more information on this new world. They were both shocked at Aidan's, aka Harry Potter's, fame. And while they had hoped that the goblins would be able to prove via a quick blood test that he wasn't in fact this Harry Potter, the Wizarding World Hero Extraordinaire, they were proven wrong. On one hand, Aidan now knew what had happened to him before going to live with the Gordons. On the other hand, wizards were idiots. No one checked on him for ten years. Plus, he was the only survivor, how did they know what happened? Nonsense, all of it. He could have been dead by the time his letter was supposed to be delivered. Plus, let's not forget about the lovely Dursley's who had immediately abandoned him at the church. Toss in this Albus Dumbledore character who dumped him on their doorstep in the first place. Abandoned outside twice! What the heck! He counted his blessings for surviving not only whatever happened when he got the lightning scar but also the idiocy of adults flinging toddlers unto doorsteps during cold months like he was a newspaper.

Not wanting to attract any unwanted attention, Lin had used some of her make-up to cover Aidan's scar but also had him wear a baseball cap. They were glad of this plan after getting confirmation of his identity from the goblins but also after staring gob smacked at the hideous books claiming to detail not only what happened the night his parents were murdered but also what he had been supposedly up to since then. Oh, they would sue the pants off these people as soon as they found a barrister.

The more they learned the more they were reluctant to let Aidan attend. But his heritage was important. The one issue they ran into was that Aidan James Gordon did not exist in the magical world. He didn't want to be Harry Potter. Thankfully, for a very large fee and several piles of signed parchment later, Harry Potter was secreted away. A bit of obscure goblin magic and Aidan Gordon could no longer be linked to Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. That included pretty much erasing him as 'Harry Potter' from Professor McGonagall's memory as well. Which was good because he did not want to deal with her knowing and possible spilling the beans since he refused to be an unwilling public figure. And they say money can't buy happiness. Whoever believes that is obviously poor.

YEAR 1

Before he knew it, Aidan was waving his mother goodbye through the window of the Hogwarts Express. He quickly met a girl named Hermione Granger and a boy named Neville Longbottom who he promptly helped look for a wayward toad. He was twice as glad to get rid of his Harry Potter baggage once he heard the rumors on the train. The excited whispers about the Boy Who Lived were enough to give him an ulcer.

As GORDON, AIDAN was called to be sorted, he was thinking about how amazing goblin magic truly was. He was promptly sorted into Ravenclaw, not a surprise as he had read all his course books already. Hermione was also sorted into Ravenclaw as well and shy Neville into Hufflepuff. They both waved to Neville after his sorting, just to let him know that they would still be friends.

When Harry Potter was not called, people lost their minds. The whispers on the trains were nothing in comparison to the absolute panic of there not being a Harry Potter at Hogwarts. The sheer number of articles published in the following weeks was mind boggling. Even the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, showed up one day demanding answers from the Headmaster.

The official statement given to the public was that Harry Potter was being privately tutored for his safety. Aidan wanted to laugh at that. He was also glad that he used his recently discovered fortune to move Lin out of Mulberry Court in case other magical people decided to drop by unannounced looking for Harry Potter. He wasn't sure if the Book of Admittance still had their old address listed and didn't want to chance it. They now lived in a posher part of London in a townhouse that was fortified by all the wards that money could buy, including one that redirected all mail to Harry Potter to a Gringotts vault. Lin even quit her boring job.

His first year was great. Since Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had their classes together, he and Hermione were able to spend time with Neville. This proved to be a good thing since Aidan was able to stop Neville from hurting himself during their first flying lesson. There were rumors about a monster killing unicorns in the forest and then a troll got into the school during Halloween. Thankfully no one was hurt. He did go home for the holidays. He told his mother all about the Wizarding World and got her a bunch of books that she could read on her own to learn more about it. During the break he made a trip to Gringotts to sort through his mail. A lot of demands from the Ministry. Most notable a package that contained an invisibility cloak that belonged to his father along with a note from Dumbledore asking for a meeting. Aidan promptly had that letter and the ones from the Ministry burnt and had the cloak checked for spells. He did give a short statement for the goblins to give to the Daily Prophet from Harry Potter, basically saying that he was safe, happy and staying away as he did not want constant reminders of his parents death.

As for the cloak, it came in handy during the Spring term as he explored the restricted section at night. The only hiccup to the term was having to stop Hermione from investigating the third-floor corridor since everyone knew, thanks to the Weasley twins, that there was a Cerberus guarding something. He finally had to firmly tell her that it was not her, nor his or Neville's, responsibility to handle and encouraged her to tell their Head of House instead. Sometimes he felt like she had too many Gryffindor tendencies for his likings. Anyway, the year came to an end with Professor Quirrell being announced missing the last day of exams and Slytherin winning the House Cup.

YEAR 2

Aidan spent the summer before his second year visiting Hermione and Neville. It was interesting to see them both at home, more relaxed, away from the stresses of school. They had fun, going to the pool, playing tag, visiting the seaside, and of course completing their piles of homework. Before he knew it, it was September 1st.

A couple of weeks into the school year he caught several older Ravenclaw girls pushing and mocking a little blond waif. He was livid. A couple of stunners, the help of Professor Flitwick and some very eager house-elves, and Luna Lovegood was no longer bullied.

They both liked to wonder the grounds and had bonded over the Thestrals, which they could both see due to the loss of their mothers. She fit right in with his other friends, with the bonus of driving Hermione to frustration once in a while with her talks of imaginary creatures. Aidan thought she was great and nodded along enthusiastically as she prattled on about nargles.

He had, of course, tried out and gotten the seeker position just to push Cho Chang off the team since she was the biggest bully to Luna. No one messed with his friends.

The next significant occurrence was his run-in with the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly-Headless Nick, one night when returning from the owlery. Aidan, having been raised with impeccable manners, had greeted the ghost, who was so impressed and surprised that he took an immediate liking to him, even if he was a Raven. Nick, as he told Aidan to call him, told Aidan all about having his application to the Headless Hunt rejected once again. Apparently it's a sort of club for headless ghost and Aidan didn't see the need, but what else was there to do while floating about forever so he couldn't judge it. Anyway, it seemed that since Nick's head was not completely severed from his body he's not welcome to join. Aidan found that to be quite rude, and Nick appreciated his support on the matter. As they chatted about the injustice of it all, Filch rounded the corner as if on a warpath.

Unfortunately for Aidan, Filch caught sight of his muddy shoes and promptly dragged him to his office with the intention of writing him up. But fortunately, while waiting for Filch to finish his tirade, Peeves created quite a raucous breaking some sort of tall dark cabinet and Filch ran out of the room on a new quest, completely forgetting he left Aidan in his office unsupervised. Well, what was a twelve-year-old boy to do. He had a bit of nosy, eyes only - of course, and noticed a bundle of papers containing items for a course called Kwikspell. He wasn't sure what that was, but he made a note to look it up later. On Filch's return, and upon realizing that Aidan had obviously seen the papers on his desk, he is so enraged that he sent him away with no punishment. Good result!

On his way to Ravenclaw tower he ran into Nick again. It turned out that Nick was behind Peeves' little tirade, and to thank him, Aidan agreed to go to Nick's 500th Deathday Party, which happened to be on Halloween. Sadly, the party sounded a lot more interesting than it actually was. Not for the living for one, and for two, definitely not for kids. All the food was rotten, and Nick got bowled over when the members of the Headless Hunt arrived. Thankfully, he had dragged Luna with him as she thought it was a great honor, while Neville and Hermione declined.

On their way to the Great Hall, in hopes of finding something to eat, Aidan and Luna met another Hogwarts ghost. Luna introduced her as Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who haunts the girl's bathroom on the first floor. Strange place to hang out but who was he to question it. The duo managed to make the tail end of the Halloween feast which they were all grateful for. Then on the way to the tower, Aidan heard a mysterious voice coming from the walls. He followed it slowly while asking Luna about voices. She went on to list a bunch of random reasons for hearing things that others couldn't while then deciding that he may actually be hearing the walls themselves or even the spiders they saw scurrying away out of a window, so he could be an Araneae-tongue. Startled that wizards and witches could in fact, though rarely, speak to animals he thought about all the times he heard the snakes complain at the zoo when visiting with the Gordons. He had thought it was his imagination.

Aidan asked Luna if she knows about wizards who can speak to snakes and she told him about You-Know-Who, Salazar Slytherin, and how there is fear associated with the gift. She didn't agree but then again, she wasn't infested with cotton headed ninny-muggins. With that in mind, Aidan decides to ignore the voice as he figured it would be a snake and he didn't want to deal with whatever fallout would result if that got out. All that to say that their wandering lead them to a commotion on the other side of the floor. A bunch of students, a frozen - possibly dead cat, a message in what looked to be blood on the wall: 'The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware.' Aidan thought that it was a distasteful prank; he did not condone animal cruelty no matter how annoying Filch and Mrs Norris were.

The panic set forth in the student population was almost to the scale when Harry Potter did not show up the year before. Between Draco Malfoy gleefully informing everyone that the "mudbloods" would be next, to Binns telling them about the Chamber after Hermione's incessant questioning. Apparently she was too late in trying to check out a book about it, as they were all taken, and was too impatient to wait. After a little more pushing, Binns explained that the legend around the Chamber is concerned with the Hogwarts founders: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff. Slytherin eventually separated himself from the pack because he didn't want Muggle-born students to study at Hogwarts. Soon after, he and Gryffindor had a fight on the subject and Slytherin left the school. Rumor was that he created a hidden chamber in the castle that only his heir could unlock, and whatever waited in the chamber was some sort of monster that would purge the school of students Slytherin didn't believe were worthy. The chamber, of course, had never been found.

Not surprisingly after learning all that, Aidan, Neville, Hermione and Luna went back to the scene of the crime. The writing was still on the wall as Filch hasn't been able to scrub it off much to his ire. Luna lead them into the girl's bathroom, right off the corridor to ask Moaning Myrtle if she remembers hearing anything, which she didn't—she'd been too upset after how Peeves treated her at Nick's party. Percy saw them coming out of the loo and ushers them out angrily, threatening to deduct points.

Nothing much happened for a couple of weeks and then a first-year student named Colin Creevey turned up Petrified. Aidan questioned why Aurors hadn't been notified or why they can't buy Mandrake from someplace else as it seems ridiculous to let that poor kid wait all year to be revived, he would miss out his entire first year of Hogwarts. It made no sense. His friends agreed. Hermione notes that the incident had not been in the papers and there had been no sign of parents showing up, freaking out over it. Neville added that it may be because Colin was a muggle-born. That did not sit well with Aidan.

In February, Hermione complained about the first-floor bathroom overflowing again. Aidan goes to see what's wrong with Myrtle since he's been friendly with most of the ghosts in the castle since Halloween. It turns out that someone chucked a book into Myrtle's toilet and it went through her head. He let her winge and agreed that it was quite rude and uncalled for behavior, even if she couldn't feel it. It turned out to be the diary of a T.M. Riddle. Sadly, the diary was oddly blank, providing no clues. Aidan took the diary and decided to investigate it.

With his friends help, they learn that Riddle had attended Hogwarts 50 years ago and received an award for special services to the school. That was the last time that the Chamber was opened. Neville accidently spilled his inkwell near the diary and they all watched stunned as it absorbed it without leaving a mark. This lead to them writing in it but then quickly stopped once Aidan gets shown Hagrid and the monster. He thinks that Riddle's a lying little tattle-tale and Hagrid was framed. The others agree.

With the information from the diary vision, they all went back to Myrtle. She tells them all about how she died. It seemed that Riddle was given the award for discovering what had killed her, the giant spider that Hagrid kept. She went on and on about how he was very handsome and smart. Myrtle described the noise she heard and the yellow eyes by the sink. Aidan was already skeptical about the guy and now believed that Riddle was definitely not a hero. Way too many villain vibes. They thanked her for her story.

Away from prying eyes and ears, they went over all the clues. The way Myrtle died, the Chamber being reopened, and him hearing voices, well that last one only Luna knew about. The only logical monster was a basilisk. Especially after finding the snake engraved into one of the taps in Myrtle's bathroom. Luna, having an astounding knowledge of creatures, confirmed that a basilisk kills by looking you in the eye. Then Hermione chirped in that the petrification must have happened because of the reflective surfaces found by Mrs Norris and then Colin's camera.

They tried to do the right thing. They told Flitwick and got turned away. Then McGonagall with no luck either. Having had enough of being ignored he acts on his own.

Aidan waited for Myrtle to be away and went back to the bathroom. Armed with sunglasses, a hand mirror and a goblet that had been mostly transfigured into a rooster, hey – he only needed it's cry, he went into the chamber. He found the shed skins and the entrance to an antechamber. Not wanting to find the actual monster he gives the rooster-cup a shake, it crowed in agitation. In the echoing chambers a ghastly wail resounded, followed by a thump, then silence. He looked at the rooster and vowed, though this little avian hero was not real, to never eat chicken again in honor of their awesomeness.

No one else is petrified.

YEAR 3

The summer before third year is quiet and relaxing. That is, with the exception of the frantic articles in the Prophet about Sirius Black breaking out of Azkaban. He thought it was nuts that wizards couldn't build prisons that were unbreakable. How did magic have limits?

Since both Luna and Neville were abroad during the summer holidays with their families, Aidan spent a lot of time between his house and Hermione's. He even tagged along with her to buy their school things, during which she acquired an orange furry beast called Crookshanks. Thankfully the cat liked Aidan, if only for short bursts of time.

At the Leaky Cauldon, he sat petting the orange fluff ball while waiting for Hermione to return from the loo. He was thinking about the possibility of telling his three closest friends his birth name. He felt like a non-superhero with a secret identity. The longer he kept the secret, the more betrayed they would feel. He had finally convinced himself that it was a good idea to tell them when he overhears two people mention in loud whispers that Sirius Black was after him, well after Harry Potter. He conspicuously identified the gossipers as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, they were shepherding their hoard of children about the alley. Well, that changed his mind rather quickly. If a crazy escaped convict was after Harry Potter, than Harry Potter he wasn't going to be.

The next hiccup occurred on the train back to school. Not even an hour into the journey, the train stopped. An unnatural coldness and despair enveloped him. By the time the rumor mill reached them they learnt that the cause was dementors apparently looking for Sirius Black. Hermione then of course offered up all the information she knew about them. Aidan was not impressed. Soul sucking demons near children! On top of that, he had heard a woman's voice, a voice full of sadness and despair. He did not like that at all.

The Ministry, and the papers, of course tried to get Harry Potter's location out of the Headmaster according to the rumors. They wanted to provide dementor guards wherever Harry was in case Black found him. Aidan was even gladder that no one knew who he was as he liked his soul un-sucked thank you very much. Wizards were idiots.

Though he was taking Runes and Arithmancy as electives, he did wish he was in Care of Magical Creature just to see Draco get scratched by Buckbeak. The jealous prat did not like that Hermione had been able to get the noble beast to bow to her. Unfortunately, that caused a flurry of angry letters, a complaint to the school board and a frantic Hermione and Hagrid trying to save Buckbeak's neck from the Ministry's axe. He really didn't want to get involved.

On the dementor front, the Hogwarts library was lacking on information on how to kill them, so Aidan decided to ask the new DADA professor for help. Professor Lupin was reluctant to teach him the Patronus, the only known deterrent, claiming he was too young. But in the end he gave in, something about Aidan reminding him of someone he used to know. Aidan proved to be a quick learner, at least in front of a boggart, and went on to teach his three friends the charm as well.

The drama then restarted. The Fat Lady's portrait was slashed, and Peeves said that Sirius Black was the culprit. This caused a panic, of course, and the ministry sent even more dementors to guard the school. Aidan counted himself lucky to have learnt the Patronus charm so quickly.

He decided that the best way to get rid of the dementors was to in fact catch Sirius Black, and hopefully not get the credit for it. He was really trying to fly under the radar. He needed more information. Since he had learned some new tidbits about the man from overhearing conversations before at the Leaky Cauldron, he decided to do it again since no one would shut up about the guy. Alcohol did cause tongues to loosen. Using his invisibility cloak he followed McGonagall into the Hogshead during a Hogsmeade weekend. It was a place that did not serve minors, so it was as good as any to spy. It only took two drinks before the story came out. Sirius Black was Harry's father's best friend and was even named Harry's godfather! Why did she skip that part when telling Aidan about his background when delivering his Hogwarts letter? He thought that it was a pretty important piece of information to be told that. Now he knew. Sirius was his parents greatest betrayer as he told Voldemort of the Potters' whereabouts after they went into hiding. Black was responsible for his parents death just as much as Voldemort! He unfortunately didn't learn anything else which was disappointing.

The term rolled on quietly until Gryffindor Tower suffered another attack from Sirius Black. Hitting the same place twice. There was no way the guy was looking for Harry Potter as everyone knew that Harry Potter did not attend Hogwarts. Aidan realized that Black could not be after him. But who was he trying to get to?

The trail went cold. He didn't know any of the Gryffindors well enough to hazard a guess on which one of them had whatever Black wanted. So, he turned his attention to end of year exams.

Along with the stress of tests, Hermione was driving them nuts trying to recruit help to save Buckbeak. Neville caved, the poor sod. Aidan and Luna refused to help but they never told her why. Aidan on the principal that it was Hagrid's pet and he could never forgive Hagrid for not only breaking down his door but also being part of the 'dumping Harry Potter on doorsteps in the middle of a cold night' brigade. Luna stuck with Aidan in support even though he didn't tell her his reason, she was just a great friend like that. Anyway, Buckbeak was unsurprisingly, definitely due to Malfoy's father's connections, sentenced to death.

Hermione and Neville dragged Aidan and Luna to console Hagrid after the execution. Aidan and Luna sat in the pumpkin patch and refused to go any further. Quiet protest and all that what-what. While walking back to the castle Crookshanks, who had been walking along everywhere with them like a guard animal took off after Scabbers, Ron's rat, who was also walking towards the castle from a different direction. Ron chased the cat chasing his rat. Aidan and his friends ran after to help Hermione get back her pet. Out of nowhere, a large black dog popped out just as Ron caught Scabbers, dragging him and the rat he was holding into a hole under the Whomping Willow. How rummy!

Aidan was the first to react. He sent Neville and Luna to get help while he and Hermione went after Ron and the small pet shop he was violently gathering.

Aidan and Hermione managed to get into the tunnel beneath the Willow with only a few scrapes. On the other side of the dark underground path was the Shrieking Shack. There they discover that the dog is really Sirius Black, who's an Animagus.

Aidan, furious at the man who caused his parents death, attacked Sirius. They fought while Hermione tried to get an injured Ron to escape. Just as Aidan was poised to strangle his parents' betrayer, he found himself unable to do it. He pushes himself off and away from the man. Not before getting a few kicks and punches in. Suddenly, Lupin arrived and embraced Sirius. That's when Hermione frantically revealed that Lupin was a werewolf. The drama. Lupin then revealed that Ron's rat was also an Animagus, a wizard named Peter Pettigrew. He tried to explain how he discovered who the real traitor was, but Aidan stunned Lupin and then Sirius in quick succession. Ron thanked him but then Aidan stunned Scabbers the rat and Ron just as quickly.

Hermione helps him bind the lot and they were about to levitate everyone out the room when Snape appears. He gloats about getting to see Sirius get Kissed. While his back is turned slightly, glaring at Black. Aidan takes the opportunity to stun him too. Hermione of course freaked out. Yelling at Aidan about attacking a teacher. He felt a headache forming and did the most obvious thing. He stunned her too.

Aidan quickly came up with a plan. He pockets the rat and was about to start levitating the rest out when Luna and Neville arrived. They told him that they couldn't get another teacher to believe them besides Snape and Lupin. He told them to help him. Luna and Neville float Hermione and Ron into the tunnel back to the school. After they leave, Aidan wakes up Lupin and tells him to deal with Snape and Sirius quickly as the full moon would rise soon. He asked him how to revert an Animagus and Lupin is too shocked to do anything else and tells him how to cast the spell. Aidan thanks him and then runs to the tunnel to catch up with his friends.

On route to the castle, Aidan instructs Luna and Neville to take Hermione and Ron to the hospital while he got the Headmaster as he was also Supreme Mugwump and would be needed to run interference with the aurors and Ministry idiots.

Aidan made it to the gargoyle and rushed out that it was an emergency. It moved. He gave a silent thanks to Hermione and her obsession with quoting passages from Hogwarts: A History. He runs up the moving stairs, bursts into the room and in front of Dumbledore's unbelieving eyes performed the spell to revert an Animagus on the stunned and bound rat. Immediately, Aidan exposes the Dark Mark on the man's left forearm. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Dumbledore cast a more powerful bind on the man and fire called the aurors.

Aidan looked up at the wide-eyed faces of the portraits in the room and used their state of shock and the Headmasters split attention between Pettigrew and the fireplace to slip out of the room. Deciding that he had done way more than any thirteen-year-old could do when faced with an escaped convict, a werewolf and a supposed dead man, he went up to his dorm to sleep. But not for long. He was woken up less than an hour later by his Head of House and dragged to the Headmasters office where he is met by a crowd. Aurors, his friends, and a very angry Professor Snape.

Aidan refused to give details of what happened. Hermione looked on frantic, Ron was still in the hospital, Neville was confused, and Luna was happily eating lemon drops from a porcelain bowl while petting Fawkes. Snape was Snape and threatened to give him a truth serum and then have him expelled. Aidan replied that it was illegal to administer it to a minor without parental consent, which he could guarantee would not be given, and that while he wouldn't like to transfer to a different school after having invested three years at Hogwarts, he would make the best of it elsewhere if this is the thanks he got for catching a Death Eater hiding in what was supposed to be the safest place in Britain.

The adults lost their minds. There was a lot of shouting and more threats. He and his friends stayed quiet. Dumbledore tried one more time.

"My boy, why won't you tell us what happened?"

Refusing to look any of the adults in the eye, Aidan replied, "It is irrelevant, sir. The important event was the capturing of a man that was not only thought to be dead, but also a marked Death Eater. Goodness knows how long he was masquerading as a pet. That man could have done all sorts of disgusting things to not only Ron, his family, but also the students in the castle as he has been brought into this building for goodness knows how many years with unrestricted access. I hope you will use a truth serum on him and then charge him accordingly." That shut them up. Good result, that was.

He finally got back to his room to sleep. His friends eventually gave up trying to get the full story out of him as well.

In the weeks that followed, Sirius Black was cleared. Peter Pettigrew was given the Kiss. And just because he's a snarky git, Snape let it get out that Remus was a werewolf.

YEAR 4

Thankfully the weeks after the end of school drama were calm. The next exciting thing was the wait for the Quidditch World Cup. Unfortunately, Neville's grandmother refused to let him attend. A sleepover at Longbottom Manor calmed Neville's endless muttering complaints. They listened to the match over the wireless and read about the attach in the paper the following morning. Mrs Longbottom was quiet smug, pointing out that she was right not to let Neville attend.

Back on the Hogwarts Express, the rumor mill was still harping on about how Ron Weasley's wand had been used by a house-elf to cast the Dark Mark at the Cup. The idiot of course loved the attention and the only thing that shut him up was the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament. Even then he, along with the majority of the school, complained about the age restriction.

For a change in pace, the new DADA teacher was an ex-auror so there was hope that he would teach them something. The track record the last several years was not very good, Lupin aside of course. Aidan had several moments of panic when he was told about Moody's magical eye during the Welcome Feast. He had to make subtle inquiries about what it could see through, all while making sure to not face the man until he had his answers. Thankfully, all of his sources, books, student, teachers and goblins, all agreed that his eye only saw through magical concealments. What a relief! He didn't have to worry about Moody seeing through the muggle make-up he used to cover his scar under his fringe. The thing refused to be hidden by anything else.

The next big thing was the other schools arriving for the Triwizard Tournament. In fact, the even bigger drama was when the names came out of the Goblet of Fire. For Dumstrang it was Viktor Krum, for Beauxbaton it was Fleur Delacour, for Hogwarts it was Cedric Diggory. The Headmaster's speech was cut off when the Goblet flared again, issuing a fourth name. Harry Potter. First there was silence. Then the whispering rose to thunderous proportions. Aidan was able to use the crowd's confusion to regain his composure. Heart racing and wanting to run back to the safety of his dorm room, he forced himself to not move. Not to react, not to look suspicious.

Once everyone was dismissed, Aidan quickly made his way to the library where he dove head first into books on magical contracts. After several days, where the Prophet was publishing one wild story after the other regarding Harry Potter being the fourth champion, Aidan let out a long sigh in relief. He did not have to participate as he was no longer legally Harry Potter. Also, since he didn't put this name in the cup he wasn't party to any contract, legal or otherwise, with the Tournament organization and therefore not bound by it. As a precaution, he would lock himself in a room before the first task in case there was some sort of compulsion cast by the cup that circumvented his name change.

And that is exactly what he did. For a couple of days before the first task he made subtle complaints of not feeling well. So, when the big day came, it was no surprise that he did not attend though he encouraged Neville, Luna and Hermione to go see the first task. Thanks to the very kind Hogwarts house elves he sequestered himself in the Room of Requirement. It was nerve racking waiting but in the end nothing happened. No compulsion, no pain, no loss of magic. He was able to enjoy the talk and hype of the event with ease after that.

When the Yule Ball was announced he received endless eyelash flutters from girls trying to get his attention. That was one headache he did not want to deal with. He took the chance, after learning that Neville had asked Luna, and that Hermione had a secret date, to announce to his friends, in a voice slightly too loud, that he hoped they had fun and had a dance or two in his honor as he would be going home for the holidays. The rumor mill took hold of the news and he was left alone aside from the disappointed looks here and there.

Everything had calmed down a bit, so he knew something was coming. And it did. Aidan had fallen asleep in class and dreamt of a strange baby looking man, a crazed man named Barty and a huge snake. He awoke with his scar burning. It reminded him of the fact that his scar hurt when he was near Quirrell during his first year. Using the Room of Requirement and access to the Restricted Section thanks to his handy invisibility cloak, he learned how to block the connection.

The second task was boring to watch as it was an hour of looking at the surface of the Black Lake. The third task started off just as silly but with a gigantic hedge. He refused to sit around for that, so he left after ten minutes much to the complaints of his friends. He loudly claimed that he was going to the toilet and hoped Diggory did Hogwarts proud before going to hide out in the Room of Requirement to read. Thankfully the room provided a view of the pitch and stage, so he kept that on in the background like a television. That way if asked, he could claim to have been there the entire time if questions came up later. But he didn't need bother, aside from Krum winning nothing happened. Well, except his scar flared up at one point.

Then, a couple of days before the Express was scheduled to leave, a dead Alistair Moody was found naked in a trunk in his office. Large chunks of hair missing and a bleeding gash on his right forearm. Whatever happened was excused as the curse on the position. Aidan didn't buy it.

A brighter piece of news came from Hermione. She unveiled a beetle in an unbreakable jar during the train ride back to London. It seemed she had had enough of Rita Skeeter calling her all sorts of names in the paper for dating Krum. Hermione discovered that Rita was an unregistered Animagus and was going to keep her trapped for a bit. Brilliant and scary that one.

YEAR 5

Summer flew, between visiting friends, doing homework and hanging out with his Mum. Aidan was surprised to receive a thank you letter from both Sirius and Remus in July. Why it took so long he could not fathom. He checked his Harry Potter mail vault and found letters from them as well just as recently. He was not impressed. From Aidan, he replied saying he was glad everything worked out. From Harry Potter, he basically wrote then the same thing: it's too late, where were you my entire life?

He didn't even give Sirius the excuse of Azkaban as he should have taken care of a wounded Harry, hello he was given quite the head wound, and not pawned him off on Hagrid to run after Pettigrew. As for Remus, he had no reason to not reach out. He was a werewolf only once a month which left the rest free to write or even visit. It is obvious that Harry was not a priority nor a thought in their minds as it took almost thirteen years to write him. He told them to get on with their own lives as before, without him. It should be easy as nothing would change. Harsh but true.

Aidan didn't give them another thought as he had a resurrected Dark Lord to worry about. The nightmares were back and his scar hurt. He got glimpses. He knew he was back and their connection was stronger than before. It was taking him time and effort to fight it.

Once school started he started getting glimpses of a dark hall and a glowing orb. It wasn't until he made subtle queries about where that would be that he found out it was the Department of Mysteries. The orb, a freaking prophecy. Of course, it was. Wizards were idiots. So, Aidan did the responsible thing. He snuck out during a Hogsmeade weekend with the help of his new friend Winky. She was a house-elf that was accused of using Ron's wand during the World Cup fiasco and had taken to drinking. He met her when visiting the kitchen for a late snack and took a liking to her. Next thing you know, he had a house-elf. Quite handy.

A short queue and an even shorter form and one prophecy orb was in his possession. He wondered why Voldy didn't just do that. He didn't even have his henchmen spying during the day. What an idiot. Aidan went back and forth between wanting to hear it and just smashing it. In the end, he cushioned it and sent it home via good old Royal Mail with a note. He would worry about it later.

Fifth year progressed quietly for a while until he got a vision-dream right before school was to let out for the holidays of a man he recognized as Mr Weasley being attacked at the Ministry. While he hated getting involved he couldn't let the man die. Being short on time and ideas, he sealed and silenced his curtains then called for Winky. He wrote a quick note using a magicked quill to hide is handwriting and told Winky to give it to Dumbledore and to say it was an urgent message from Harry Potter. Of course, he had her swear to keep it all a secret.

The good thing was that Mr Weasley survived, the bad thing was that Dumbledore kept trying to send him messages via house elves. He knew this from Winky who proved to be the best house-elf in all of existence by blocking any other house-elf from finding Harry Potter while collecting their messages. They would be directed to Gringotts and bounce off the endless anti-theft wards. He kind of felt bad for them but he really didn't want to be found. Dumbledore was insistent and very annoying. He even tried to guilt him into meeting the Weasleys so they could thank him in person for saving Arthur.

Aidan sent a response to the family using Winky. He felt generous as it was the season of goodwill towards men and all that.

To the Weasley Family,

I am honored by your many letters and gifts. While I rather stay away from the public, I could not in good conscience stand by while Mr Weasley was in danger. I was relieved that my message reached the appropriate parties in time.

To Ginny - Thank you for the kind words and a copy of Beedle the Bard.

To Ron - Thank you for the chess set, I will endeavor to learn to play as I have yet to.

To Fred - Thank you for the Hogwarts toilet seat, the most unique gift I've ever received.

To George - Thank you for the Zonko items, I am impressed with your improvements.

To Percy - Thank you for a copy of Hogwarts: A History, I can see what I'm missing out.

To Charlie - Thank you for the dragon scales, please pass along my thanks to Noberta as well.

To Bill - Thank you for a copy of Obscure Magicks, it has been quite informative.

To Arthur and Molly - Words fail to describe how comfortable my Weasley sweater is and how scrumcious the homemade fudge. I may take you up on the offer for Sunday lunch should I return to the Wizarding World.

Your most obedient servant,

H.J. Potter

Aidan could imagine Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes hungrily reading the letter just to be disappointed that his guilt trip did not work. The attack on Mr Weasley increased the messages from Sirius and Remus. Apparently Dumbledore was gathering the old crowd since Snape, thanks to his Mark, confirmed that Voldy was back. He ignored them. However, Sirius turned out to be a blabbermouth. Through him, Aidan learned of every member of the Order. Goodness, what kind of secret vigilante organization didn't safeguard member identities.

Then the Daily Prophet announced a mass breakout from Azkaban. Ten of Voldemort's Death Eaters escaped and the dementors guarding the wizard prison joined Voldemort. Great, just bloody great.

Aidan finally got a grasp on the stronger connection with Voldemort and his snake and checks on it randomly throughout the Spring term. During his History exam, he got a vision of Sirius being attacked at the Ministry, just like Mr Weasley. Interesting.

He finished the exam and then snuck into the Room of Requirement where he gave Winky a message to give to Dumbledore, telling him to check on Sirius. Later that night he got flashes of a fight and bursts of anger from the Dork Lord.

As it turned out, the vision about Sirius was false but Dumbledore went in wands a blazing anyway. In the end, several Death Eaters were caught and Voldy was seen by the Minister himself and several other government employees while dueling Dumbledore. So at least it served for something useful. The next day, the papers announced that the Voldy was back with pleads for Harry Potter to return and protect them. Sheep, the lot of them.

Aidan went home, ignored all the letters to Harry Potter from the crazy public. He did listen to the prophecy. Then smashed the orb right after. He had to kill the bastard, he kind of figured that part out already. In response, he sent Dumbledore a howler with Winky because in all of his stupid letters he never mentioned a prophecy. He felt better afterwards, he can see why people use them. Scream therapy, who knew.

YEAR 6

Sixth year was quiet. Too quiet. But that was fine for him. He did get a little side project. Thanks to Sirius' one-sided letters, he learned about the Marauder's map and how it was created. One Accio later and he was owner of said map. It took until the Christmas holidays, but Aidan was able to recreate the map, adding the ROR to the map along with the Chamber of Secrets. He then made both un-summon able. He was not losing them.

The map was crucial in learning that Malfoy was creeping about the Room of Requirement. Between the map and Winky it was easy enough to discover the Vanishing Cabinet. He didn't want to foil the plan too soon as that could lead Blondie from working on something else.

The pleads from what seems to be every British Wizard did not stop. Letter upon letter, public bulletins, posters, announcements in the Prophet. Fudge even tried to get a court order to have Harry Potter appear. Voldemort and his band of idiots were waging war and even the Muggle governments noticed. He didn't think showing his, or Harry Potter's face, would slow things down.

His friends where stressed, scanning the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix had already suffered losses according to Sirius.

And yet . . . life went on. Sixth-year students learnt to Apparate — and lost a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirted and fought and fell in love. Classes were pretty straightforward. Though Aidan received some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince when he found an old potions book by accident much to Hermione's ire, but Luna set her straight.

He eventually sent a note to Dumbledore telling him about the Room of Requirement, Draco and the Vanishing Cabinet. Aidan was hoping for a trap to be set but nothing of that sort happened. He had snuck under his invisibility cloak up to the Astronomy tower when he noticed on his map that all the Death Eaters that Draco let in had gone in that direction. Everything happened too fast and at the same time in slow motion. Draco disarmed Dumbledore, Snape cast the killing curse. Dumbledore's body falling.

After the funeral, he received a notice from the Ministry about a bequeathment. He makes arrangements for Gringotts to collect the items much to the Minister's ire. It's a plain black box. Within was a thick letter, a dozen stopped vials with cloudy glowing swirls, a tarnished cracked ring with a black stone with markings and a shrunken pensive.

He was right to be afraid to look at the memories. Horcruxes.

He already knew what they were from the book Bill Weasley sent him last year. Now, from Dumbledore's memories he learned that there were a possible seven, and that he had destroyed one.

The ring. Which at a closer look had markings matching the other book he got from the Weasley. He should have known that the gifts were not innocent. Even in death Dumbledore sent him annoying messages. At least this time they had information.

YEAR 7

It wasn't a surprise when news of the Minister's death was announced in the paper, nor that Snape was the new Headmaster of Hogwarts. Since he was registered as a muggleborn, Aidan knew he couldn't go back to school with Death Eaters running it. Neither could Hermione.

A couple of weeks before school was to start, he met with her at a Cafe to discuss not returning. He convinced her to leave the country and take her parents with her. Australia was a good choice. They sent off letters to Luna and Neville telling them goodbye, if only for now.

The stress of the Horcruxes started getting to him. He wasn't eating or sleeping. He cried in his mothers arms. He told her his fears but most of all of his plan. She refuses to stay behind.

They rotated hotels, hostels, B&Bs in the muggle world to avoid detection. The one good thing about Death Eaters is that they don't venture outside their comfort zone.

They anonymously recruit Sirius, Remus, and a surprisingly cooperative Kreacher once he learns what they're doing.

It takes them less than four months to discover their locations.

The Diary that Aidan hid in his Gringotts vault after his second year, the ring that Dumbledore found and destroyed, the locket that Kreacher kept from Regulus, the Cup from Bellatrix's vault retrieved by an imperioused Goblin (sorry, not sorry), the Diadem that Luna and Neville found in the ROR. A basilisk tooth harvested by Winky from the body of the monster and goodbye soul trinkets.

On the evening of December 31st, Aidan and Lin visited the small town of Little Hangleton. The main church, nestled in between the steep hills, is beautifully decorated for the yuletide season. They walk unseen by the locals who were wishing each other a good year to come. Arm and arm they make their way calmly up the hill.

They stop in front of a large spooky manor. Aidan raises a grey-brown, corky, furrowed wand. Several loud crashes and thumps follow. Through a boarded up second story window flies out a screaming man and a very irate large snake. As soon as they both violently collide with the unkempt front garden, Lin raised her arm and shot the snake point blank as Aidan did the same to Voldemort.

"Happy Birthday Tom."

The pair walk, arm and arm, down the hill, the burning manor to their back.

They return to their townhouse in London. They cry. They sleep.

Aidan wakes up the next day as the sun starts to make its debut. He quietly makes his way to the sitting room. Lin is standing by the large bay window, her back to him.

She turns around. He gives her a sad smile. She raises her arm, a smooth white wand in her right hand, and points straight at him. He doesn't move, doesn't flinch. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, "Avada Kedavra," she whispers.

Aidan wakes up some time later, laying in front of the window, the sun setting outside. He gets up and walks towards his bedroom and retrieves an album. He sits on the bed and slowly flips through it. Photos of him as a toddler, being held by his foster brothers and sisters, then ones of just the three of them - him, Melinda and Jim, then just the two of them. His fingers trace Melinda's smiling face in the last photo.

"I've missed you every day. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Aidan kisses the last page in the book. A yellowing newspaper cutting. Melinda, bright eyes, huge smile on her face.

Melinda Gordon, 38, widow of the late James, and loving mother to Aidan, 10, passed away on Sunday, April 12th. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.

The memories play through his mind like a movie montage.

Nine-year-old Aidan being told that Melinda has cancer. Watching her get treatment but getting worse and worse. He cried and cried at the news that his mother would die and felt a weird sensation all over his body, the next thing he knew he was looking at his own face. A twin! He had seen his double a few times but mostly in the middle of the night when he had nightmares filled with flashes of green light. He thought it was all in his head, then it reached out and touched him. Deciding that he rather be crazy than alone he didn't wish his twin away. They discovered through testing that they were separate people but could rejoin and share memories and experiences. Through endless experimentation, they learned that only the original could create a copy. What happens to one would affect the other. They talk, they plan. One of them would go to school and the other would stay at home with Mum. It could have been the pain medication, but Melinda took the news of the double without fanfare. "I always knew you were special" was all she said. She was great like that.

Ten-year-old Aidan being told that nothing else could be done for his mother. She holds him when she tells him the bad news, rocking him back and forth slowly, telling him that she only regrets not getting to see him grow up, that she is proud of him and loves him very much. That she and Jim will always watch over him. She leaves him instructions. And quietly dies in her sleep.

In his grief, Aidan splits himself again but this time his double looks just like his mother. He calls her Lin.

They follow through with Melinda's instructions. Weeks and months pass slowly. A son goes to school, a mother works from home. A new routine.

Then a special letter arrived. Aidan was a wizard.

The searing pain in learning that magic could have saved Melinda.

Harry Potter disappearing.

The relief that they can both use a wand.

Deciding that he would go to Hogwarts while Lin would stay behind, learning magic from books and keep up appearances.

Returning during school holidays to merge their memories, experiences and skills.

Splitting again.

Hugging his friends goodbye.

The horror when discovering that he was a Horcrux. That he had to die. Leaving his own instructions with Gringotts. Telling no one.

His resolution, as he stood, looking at his mother's loving face, waiting for it to all finally be over.

The confusion upon waking up alone in his sitting room.

As the last light of the setting sun plunges the room into darkness, the bed dips slightly. Aidan closes the album and looks over. "Hello, old friend," he greets. His own face smiles back in silence.

THE END

"I never smile, except when looking at a picture of a ghost, captured by a camera lens… it gives me hope. I admire the ones who refuse to go away."

From the poem "Ghost in the Land of Skeletons" by Christopher Kennedy.

"The ghosts swarm. They speak as one person. Each loves you. Each has left something undone..."

From the poem "Unbidden" by Rae Armantrout.

"They sat beside me, the ghosts, and the bed creaked, that purple-dark afternoon when I learned you were leaving forever..."

From the poem "Rain" by Claribel Alegría

Author Notes:

1. This story was inspired by Ghost Whisperer Season 3, Episode 13 - Home Not Alone.

2. The splitting into two or more people idea is a combination of two things. Tulpa (Wiki definition: Tulpa is a concept in mysticism and the paranormal of a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers) with a dash of the X-Men character James Arthur Madrox, aka the Multiple Man tossed in there.

3. The title is from the first line of the poem "Rain" by Claribel Alegría which is originally in Spanish. The English translation by Margaret Sayers Peden is quite beautiful as well.