Eyes of Emerald Green

Hello, and welcome to my latest project, which I am writing alongside my other work, The Secret Life of Epsilon Brown. Like most of my other fics, it is extremely AU.

In this story, Neville was the boy-who-lived, and his parents were killed by Voldemort when he was a baby. He was then raised by his Gran. I will not go into detail here about Neville's school years as Neville is not the main character in this story.

The story begins in September 2001, after Harry Potter and Neville have been out of school for three years. Voldemort has only just returned, and the ministry are in a state of denial.

The story focuses on Harry's little brother, Billy, and the challenges he faces whilst growing up in a world that is slowly being destroyed by conflict…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters that come directly from that world.

This is just a concept for the moment, so please review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1

William Charles Potter had always known that he was an accident.

Billy had sort of guessed that he wasn't exactly planned even before his parents deemed him old enough to learn about the birds and the bees, and his father had bashfully admitted to a few too many glasses of fire-whisky on one wet night in October. His mother was prone to hugging him, and calling him 'her little surprise'. And besides, he was small and skinny, with knobbly knees, and dark red hair that stuck up all over the place. No parent would have planned that. At least he hadn't inherited his father's awful eyesight.

It wasn't as if it mattered, really. He wasn't loved less than any of the others, and being the baby of the family definitely had its advantages. By turning his emerald green eyes on his parents, he could get away with murder. His twin sisters sometimes resented him for this, but his big brother Harry just laughed, patted him affectionately on the head, and told him he was a marauder in training. By the age of eleven, Billy knew without a doubt that Harry was the best big brother in the world. This impression was reinforced by Harry being almost a full ten years older than Billy, and having recently completed his ministry training. Not every first year Hogwarts student could say that their big brother was an Auror.

It was September 1st, and as usual, breakfast in the Potter household was a noisy affair. Jessica and Emily bickered over their cereal, their father was listening intently to the news report on the wizarding radio, and Harry was trying to reason with their mother.

"It's just one night, mum!"

"I don't care, it's not decent."

"But…"

"You are not spending the night at Ginny's!" insisted Lily. "And she is not staying here. She's a lovely girl, don't get me wrong, but you're both much too young…"

"Mum! I'm twenty-one! When you were my age, you'd already had me!"

"We were married by then!"

"Yeah," said Harry sarcastically. "You got married six months before I was born. You may have been engaged, but you certainly weren't married…"

"That's beside the point, young man! If you want to bring girls home, find your own place! I'm sure Mr and Mrs Weasley would agree with me."

"What, Arthur and Molly? The couple who spent their last few years at Hogwarts doing unspeakable things in the stairwell to the astronomy tower?"

"What?" interrupted James. "Where in Merlin's name did you hear that?"

"Sir Nick told me," said Harry. "Apparently the bloody baron caught them at it one night… hey!"

He winced as Lily clipped him around the ear with her wooden spoon. Billy giggled at his hurt expression.

"That's quite enough from you, Harry James Potter! Now eat up, it's almost eight-thirty. I want you to have left at nine."

"I don't see why I have to drive to London," said Harry sulkily. "Can't I take him by side-along?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you know how sick it makes him," said Lily, piling more toast onto Billy's plate. She ruffled his hair, and smiled down at him. "Now, Billy, is your trunk all packed?"

"Yes mum," he said dutifully. James got to his feet, wiping crumbs off his mouth.

"Alright, I've got to get to work," he said, grabbing his briefcase. He kissed his wife and daughters. "Have a lovely term, girls."

He stopped in front of Billy, placing a steady hand on his shoulder.

"Now, Billy," he said. "Have a fantastic time at Hogwarts. Play lots of pranks, do lots of flying, just have fun…"

"And work hard?" interjected Lily. "James, if you're not careful he'll turn out like… well, like you."

Billy giggled again. James sighed, and then kissed his son's forehead.

"See you at Christmas, kid."

He pressed a few coins into Billy's hand, and passed a camera to Harry.

"Buy yourself some sweets on the train. Harry, I expect pictures."

"Bye dad."

James waved, and then left the kitchen to take the floo from the living room.

"See you, Billy," said Jessica as the girls got up.

"We'll save you a place at the Gryffindor table," said Emily, and they went back up to their room. They would be apparating to the station later.

"Now then," said Lily. She waved her wand, and Billy's trunk landed with a thump in the hallway. "Have you had enough breakfast, darling?"

Billy nodded, and Lily put an arm around his shoulders, leading him into the hall. Harry followed, car keys in hand, and began to load the trunk into the boot. Billy hugged his mother tightly, burying his head into the crisp green material of her healer uniform.

"Bye mum."

"Goodbye Billy. Have a lovely time. Write to us when you're all settled in, okay?"

"Alright."

She pushed him towards the car.

"Be good for Harry!" she called. "And try not to get into too much trouble!"

Billy climbed into the car to find Harry watching him with an amused expression.

"A shame they couldn't get time off work," he said. "But trust me; it's a blessing in disguise. You won't remember, but the first time I went to Hogwarts, mum cried buckets on the platform."

"Eww."

Harry nodded in agreement as he started the car.

"She was better when it came to the twins," he continued. "And she practically just kicked you out of the door. It must get easier with each child."

Billy nodded, and turned to look out the window. The countryside was flashing past at speeds that he was sure wouldn't be safe in a muggle car.

"So are you nervous?" asked Harry. Billy shrugged. "You'll have a fantastic time at Hogwarts. But remember, try not to upset Peeves, don't provoke Snape, and don't annoy any Slytherins until you know enough magic to hex them back."

"Why do none of you like Snape?" asked Billy. "I thought he was a part of the Order."

"He is, but Snape doesn't like Potters on principal, and he's prejudiced against Gryffindors."

Billy nodded, filing the information away.

"And remember," said Harry seriously. "The ministry might not want to believe Voldemort's back, but he's definitely out there somewhere. Just don't go around shouting about it."

"Of course not," said Billy. "I'd just attract trouble."

Harry nodded, and surveyed his brother out of the corner of his eye.

"You're a clever little boy, Billy," he said. "Should we be prepared to paint your room in Ravenclaw blue?"

Billy shrugged again. "Maybe. No-one really knows until they get there, do they?"

"Fair enough, but all Potters have been in Gryffindor."

"That's not true. Grandma Dorea was a Slytherin."

Harry blinked. "She was?"

"Yes. I found Dad's book on genealogy in the library. Her name was Dorea Black, and she was Sirius's father's cousin."

"Ah, you see? She was a Black, they were all in Slytherin. Except for Sirius, of course… you, my dear brother, are a Potter, and you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

They were quiet for the rest of the journey, soon they were pulling up outside Kings Cross station. Harry found a trolley for Billy's trunk, and pushed it through the station for him.

"You ready?" he asked. Billy nodded resolutely, and together they took the barrier between platforms nine and ten at a run. Harry was laughing with the exhilaration, but Billy flinched as they reached the solid wall, half-expecting to crash. They didn't, of course, and they walked down the platform, looking for an empty compartment, or a familiar face. As it happened, they found both.

"Sirius!" called Harry. "Over here!"

"Hello boys!" beamed Sirius. He was standing on the platform with his younger daughter, Constance. The older girl Veronica was nowhere to be seen.

"Nicky already scarpered?" asked Harry. Sirius sighed dramatically, and little Connie frowned.

"She went to flutter her eyelashes at the Gryffindor Quidditch team," she informed them. "Apparently she fancies the keeper."

Billy laughed.

"Hello Connie," he said.

"Right, young man," said Harry in a passable impression of their mother. "Stand up against the train with Connie, and smile for the camera."

The two children exchanged annoyed glances, but did as they were told as Sirius loaded Billy's trunk onto the train.

"You'd better get on," said Sirius, checking his watch. "It's nearly eleven."

Billy hugged his brother, and jumped onto the train just as the guard blew his whistle.

"I'll see you at Christmas!" called Harry. "Have a good time!"

"Bye dad!" yelled Connie as the train began to move. The two children waved until the train rounded the corner. When they sat down, Connie reached for her book, whilst Billy stared anxiously out the window. After a few minutes of awkward silence, there was a knock on the door. It slid open to reveal two identical boys, already dressed in their Hogwarts robes. They had dark hair and eyes, and were even slighter than Billy.

"Hello," said the first twin, speaking in a soft Scottish accent. "Is anybody sitting there?"

Billy shook his head, and the boys took their seats.

"I'm Andrew," said the first boy. "Andrew McLaren. And this is my brother Fraser."

"Nice to meet you," said Connie tautly, before plunging her nose back into her book. Billy rolled his eyes at the twins.

"Don't mind her. She's always like that. So… you're first years too?"

"Aye," said Andrew. "We're really looking forward to it."

Fraser nodded in agreement.

"Me too!" said Billy excitedly. "Which house do you think you'll be in? I hope I'm in Gryffindor!"

"Gryffindor?" asked Andrew in discuss. "Who wants to be in Gryffindor?"

Billy stared at him in shock. He had never met anybody who spoke of Gryffindor with contempt in their voice.

"They're brave and all that," continued Andrew. "But they're reckless. They don't think before charging into stupid situations."

"My point exactly!" exclaimed Connie, looking up from her book. "My sister has no brains at all. I want to be in Ravenclaw."

"I'd rather be in Hufflepuff," said Fraser softly, speaking for the first time.

"Hufflepuff?" asked Billy scathingly. Fraser noticed the ridicule in his tone, and his dark eyes flashed angrily.

"Our parents were both in Ravenclaw," he said in his quiet voice. "But mother has a lot of respect for Hufflepuffs."

"And Slytherins," said Andrew. "It would be awesome to be a Slytherin. Apparently their dormitories are in the dungeons. How cool is that?"

"Slytherin…" Billy shivered, a little overwhelmed. In the last few minutes he had been introduced to bizarre new concepts. "Sorry guys, I still want to be in Gryffindor."

"Huh, how about that?" said Andrew. "We're all gonna end up in different houses…"