Chapter 10: Among The Enemies

During the weeks leading up to their departure to Hogwarts, Harry tended to stick to the library scouring the shelves for any information on why he was here. The fact that he was here really didn't bother him that much since he had already decided to change the out come of the future, but HOW he got here had been plaguing him every since he awoke in St. Mungo's.

While the Potter's library held extensive knowledge, there was next to nothing on time travel or theory, but plenty on rituals and the light arts. The books were very interesting, but not what he needed. He had yet read even a tenth of the extensive library, but he had received permission from the Potters to borrow some books to take to school since they rarely needed them. So it was with a disappointed spirit that Harry packed his trunk for Hogwarts.

One highlight after they got back was the story that James laughingly told to his younger cousin.

While Harold had been showing his still annoyed son around Hogwarts, James had given him the slip using a secret passageway and stealthily stole away to the dungeons.

James had never particularly liked Slughorn, but his comments concerning werewolves during dinner had in James opinion deserved some form of retaliation.

After checking to make sure that the pig of a man was nowhere in sight James preceded to wreck the orderly potions room; up rooting tables, tossing chairs, and smashing potions against the wall. With his scant knowledge of potions James mixed ingredients together that he knew would produce foul smells and placed them in the professor's chair. Finishing it off James wrote 'Bigoted Wanker' in big red ink across the board at the front of the room.

While laughing he turned to leave the room and paused as he caught sight of a very red faced Harold Potter, he cringed as his father started forward and grabbed his ear to haul him out of the room.

Of course Harold had cooled down…after a couple of days, and while he was very disapproving of his son's actions secretly he applauded the act towards the potions master for he simply could not wrap his mind around Slughorn's twisted point of view.

Harold also applauded Harry's words during the lunch at Hogwarts; rarely did one find some one so young that seemed to think without prejudice. He was sure that his cousin would either be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, and a fine student at that. The boy was as sharp as a knife and showed maturity beyond what one would expect. Hopefully his level-headedness would rub off on his cousin who had a good heart, but tended to be puerile.

On the morning of September first Harry was woken promptly at 7:30 by Sparky.

Even in spite of his kindness to her Sparky still stuttered in his presence and seemed to shy away from him, almost as if he was a dangerous creature.

Once the small elf left, he quickly showered and dressed in some of his causal muggle clothing for the trip to King's Cross.

When Mary had returned to the alley to pick up the rest of their school supplies she had picked up a new pair of glasses at Harry's request. He now sported stylish sliver framed glasses that worked with the shape of his face a good deal better than his old glasses did.

He had decided not to get a pet this year, since he still missed Hedwig and could not bring himself to buy a replacement. James already had a large black owl named Apollo that Harry could use if he really needed to mail something so it was not an issue.

Harry also found a new magical hair gel that actually managed to keep his hair somewhat tame, then again it would be the fact that his hair was much longer than what it used to be. He would describe his hair as shaggy if anything.

While he still looked amazingly like James, he no longer looked like him in that freakish clone sort of way. He could still pass as a brother, but just as likely as a cousin, after all he was in a pure blooded family.

After he was certain that he had everything packed he headed down stairs for breakfast. James was already at the table slowly eating his cereal, looking as if he was about to fall asleep at any moment as his eyes drooped dangerously close to closing.

Harry took a seat across from his cousin just as James head fell forward onto the table. Looking around to make sure no one was watching Harry conjured small pieces of ice and levitated them over the teenager's head. With a flick of his wrist the ice fell down on James exposed back of the neck, erecting a startled yelp as James sat up quickly and began to dig at the ice as it began to slid down his shirt.

Harry began to eat his eggs and kept shooting James odd looks innocently.

James finally went back to his cereal, bombarding his cousin with dirty looks as he did so.

After breakfast Harry helped James pack for school, since he had waited for the last minute to even consider packing it nearly took them the rest of the morning. Finally at 10:00 the Potters flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and then took a cab to King's Cross, arriving at a little past the half hour.

Harry followed James through the barrier without hesitation, and then silently waited beside of the excited boy for Mary and Harold to come through.

The throng of swarming students drew his attention away from the archway, and he absently noted at how many more students there seemed to be now than in his time. Of course he knew some families were wiped out during Voldemort's fist reign, but it was still amazing the impact that was made on the wizard population.

Harry turned, taking a step forward scanning the crowd for Sirius and Remus when he stepped into a passerby and fell back, tripping in the process and roughly landing on the ground.

The girl turned around and looked at him in concern before her face took on a slightly dark expression.

"Watch where you are going Potter!"

Her green eyes flashed and her red hair fell in front of her face slightly.

"What's that Evans picking on a first year?" James asked stepping to his cousin's side with narrowed eyes.

Lily looked shocked for a moment, looking from one boy to the other before stepping forward and offering a hand to Harry.

Harry silently took the offered hand and stood up slowly before brushing off his pants.

"Sorry about that," Lily began with a blush, "I thought you were James Potter."

Harry smiled slightly at the statement before asking, "And you wouldn't mind knocking James down because?"

"A topic for another time, I'll talk to you later." She gave him a slight smile before glaring at James and turning on her heels, hair flicking over her shoulders, and marched away.

"Friend of yours James?" Harry asked in amusement.

The look on the other boy's face was priceless.

"Friends? With Evans? You're absolutely bonkers if you think I'd even hang around with little miss perfect!"

Before Harry could respond Harold and Mary walked up to their sides and began to say their goodbyes. After their brief goodbye Harry followed James to look for a department to sit in. James immediately headed towards the back of the train and to the third compartment on the left-hand side.

Sliding the door open James motioned Harry in after him, but noticed the boy frozen still staring past his shoulder. Turning around he frowned not noticing anything out of the usual…the only other person in the compartment was Peter.

"Actually James I think I'll go sit with some of the kids from the party and catch up." The statement was emotionless, and the boy quickly turned on his heels and marched away.

Vaguely James thought the way his cousin walked looked strangely familiar.

Harry walked down the corridor looking for an empty apartment and finally came across one about mid-way down. He quickly shoved his trunk in the corner, pulling the door shut he then sat down peering out the window in dark thought. He could feel anger bubble under his skin and magic coursed through his body as if it were adrenaline.

His dark green eyes glared down at his clenched fist as he thought of all the ways he could make the rat die…a very painful, drawn out death.

Taking a deep breath he released his clenched hand and leaned his head forward to rest against the cool glass. As he closed his eyes the train lurched forward signaling eleven o'clock.

He couldn't very well hold this Peter responsible for his Peter's deeds, since technically they hadn't even been committed yet. It would just feel so good to make him suffer for what he would cause…well would cause if he chose the same path. That train of thought calmed him down a bit, but deep down he would always consider Peter a traitor.

Occasionally loud voices would pass by his compartment; the students would take one look at the small first year and move on to find their friends. This suited him just fine, as he pulled out a thick tome and began to read the ancient words.

Something quite bizarre that he had noticed was the fact that he could now read any language. At first he had thought it must be a benefit from his new ring, but even after he took it off he had no problem with different languages.

The Comprehension of Spirits had a deep dark cover, almost black with embroidery on the front. Blue lightning arcing was out of a pentagram which was flanked by flaming swords. The pentagram itself was interesting as the edges were gold, while in between the lines were silver. If you stared closely you could see that the edges of the pentagram were not solid, they were words.

'Penetro totus quod exsisto praecipio , nex illis quisnam operor non belong. Vita quod nex intertwined in unus.'

Harry snorted at the words in amusement for they were simply warning those who did not belong not to read this book. He thought that he could handle whatever was in the book so he opened its' cover to read the browning parchment.

The book was in one word, fascinating. Never before had he read so much on the afterlife and the spirits that resided there.

Harry was shocked to learn that the high spirits had a sort of government, and the second highest spirits, the Fatums, could pass between the realms as he could pass from one room to another. Little was known about the Fatums only that their powers knew no boundary, and that they usually did as they wished. The only spirits that was above them were the Altus filiolus, who only concerned themselves with the world when something went amiss and they had to correct it.

Harry was about to start the next section when his door slide open and a boy with midnight dark hair stuck his head in the room. Piercing blue meet the curious green as both boys studied each other for a moment.

Apparently Harry passed some sort of test as the other boy pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked in, dragging his trunk after him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" The voice was cold and detached almost as if it was commenting on the weather, but Harry caught a hint of anxiety.

"Feel free to do so."

The boy took a seat across from Harry after storing his trunk in the over head rack.

"Black, Regulus Black." The boy said holding out a manicured hand.

Slowly Harry took the hand marveling over the fact that he hadn't connected the boy's looks with Sirius, both looked startling alike. Regulus had pitch black hair, deep blue eyes, and natural beauty and grace most people could only dream of having.

"Harry Potter."

Regulus slowly took his hand back staring curiously at the other boy.

"I didn't know Potter had a brother."

Harry smirked a bit at the statement, "You're right he doesn't, I'm his cousin."

The other boy seemed to accept this and sat back in his seat seeming totally at ease.

"You are a pureblood, right?" The question was asked lightly as the boy examined his nails.

Thinking back on his cover story he nodded his head to the affirmative.

Regulus gave a slight smile before staring out the window.

The silence took over for about ten minutes as Harry went back to his book. Truth be told he was curious about the other boy, but wasn't about to strike up a conversation with him.

"So what house do you think you will be in?"

Harry considered the question thoughtfully. His gut told him immediately that he would go into Gryffindor with his parents, but that wasn't a definite. He could easily go to any house considering his past experiences, he valued loyalty above all other things, he believed in bravery even in the face of danger, knowing when to keep your mouth shut and what power could give, and lastly the power of knowledge.

"I have no idea."

Regulus looked at him strangely at the declaration.

"Well what house were you parents in?"

"My parents lived in France and went to school there."

"Oh."

"What about you? What house do you want to be in?" Harry asked curiously for Regulus didn't really sound like a stereotypical Slytherin.

"Well my mother and father were in Slytherin and obviously that's where I am expected to go, however I'd rather go to Ravenclaw."

"What about Gryffindor?"

At the thought Regulus looked horrified.

"Absolutely not! I'd be disowned by the family!"

"Sirius is in Gryffindor and hasn't been disowned." Harry said reasonably.

Answering Regulus wore an expression that stated 'yet', "Sirius is the first born; he can get away with more things than I can."

Before Harry could respond the door slid open revealing a head of curly brown hair.

"Harry!" The little girl squeaked excitedly, rushing forward.

Harry smiled slightly as the blushing girl gave him a quick hug.

"Hello Abigail how was the rest of your holidays?"

"Oh they were wonderful! You won't believe what Gideon did the other day..."

And she was off telling him all about the rest of her summer enthusiastically, he had a good time nodding at something she said and laughing occasionally at her hand motions.

Regulus looked on in amusement as Abigail hadn't even noticed him yet.

Pushing a strand of curls behind her ear she turned her head slightly catching sight of the other boy in the room, and jumped blushing deeply.

"Oh hello there, I didn't see you."

Regulus gave his most charming smile, once again reminding Harry strongly of Sirius.

"That's fine, I'm Regulus Black and you are?"

"Abigail Preyton."

"A pleasure to meet you."

Abigail giggled and gave Regulus a big smile which he returned.

After a few more minutes of mindless chit chat, the food cart came by and Harry bought a load of goodies to share with the other two children, and soon they were gorging themselves on enough sweets to give a dentist a heart attack.

Abigail provided prime entertainment as she retold some of the stories she heard about Hogwarts, and more specifically Sirius and James. Regulus seemed amused at the pranks his brother had pulled, and confided that he had never heard the stories before since his parents would disapprove of such childish acts.

When the conductor announced that they had ten minutes before they were due to arrive at Hogwarts Abigail gave a squeal and ran out of the compartment to find her trunk and change into her robes.

Harry and Regulus quickly and quietly changed in their robes, each lost in their on train of thought. Regulus didn't seem at all nervous, to all outside lookers he seemed perfectly at ease, almost as if he had accepted his fate whatever it may be.

Harry was of like mind as he replaced his book, and pulled on his new robes.

His trunk was packed with robes, as Mary insisted that he take extra robes to wear in his spare time, something that he highly doubted he would be doing. While comfortable in a robe he preferred wearing muggle style clothing, even if they were a bit outdated.

When the train came to a stop Harry led Regulus out of the compartment and out to where the first years were gathering. Almost immediately the two were bombarded by the nervous Abigail, who was fiddling with a necklace that wound around her small neck.

When they entered the boats the three were joined by none other than RabastanLestrange. Lestrange was a small boy who looked extremely nervous, huddling close to his cousin Regulus. Harry tried not to glare at the other boy, and instead stared across the lake to where he knew Hogwarts would appear.

As the majestic castle appeared from behind the hill many gasps of wonder were heard from the first years. The castle's windows were lit in all their glory as if they were beckoning to on lookers, drawing them near.

Harry couldn't help but hold his breath at the beauty of what he considered home. He could have sworn that he felt a brush of magic stretch out from Hogwarts and brush against his check gently, causing him to smile.

Before he knew it the students were standing nervously inside the Entrance Hall waiting to be called in for the sorting.

Whispers as to what the sorting involved swept the students and Harry had to smile at the creativity of some of the theories.

The leading theory was that they would be forced to fight an unknown creature with swords. How that would give them their house was beyond Harry.

McGonagall finally led the first years into the Great Hall.

The students at the tables turned slightly to look at the nervous first years. James caught Harry's eye and gave him a cocky smile and waved a bit. Harry nodded back and noticed the other Marauders watching him, in particular Remus. Sirius was busy staring at his younger brother, with an odd expression on his face, a mixture between contempt and hope.

The students' whispering died down when the slightly younger (in Harry's opinion) Sorting Hat opened its brim and began to sing the new sorting song.

The song was nothing special as he had heard many of them before, and he discretely looked around at the students that were so familiar but at the same time different from the people he knew.

Harry didn't really pay any attention to the sorting until Regulus' name was called.

The dark haired boy strolled confidently forward and took a seat on the stool.

The sorting hat took nearly a minute before it yelled out, "SLYTHERIN."

Regulus walked over to the green and silver table with relief written across his features. A pretty blond haired girl waved him over next to her and he quickly took the seat, while the clapping died down.

Lestrange also went into Slytherin.

Several other children were sorted and many seemed happy with their houses, some where shocked, and one or two seemed disgruntled.

"Potter, Harry."

Harry walked nervously up to the stool and took a seat. The last thing he saw before the hat fell over his eyes were the brown eyes of James.

'Ah what's this, a Potter eh? Wasn't expecting another one quite so soon.'

'Well yes I am a bit early.'

'I can see that dear boy, a bit before your time…interesting, very interesting.'

Harry frowned at the odd statement for it sounded amazingly like something Olliavander would say.

'Yes now where to put you…'

'Gryffindor?' Harry asked hopefully.

'You are certainly brave enough, but you don't belong there now. However Ravenclaw would be an excellent choice. I can see you've improved your mind greatly since your last sorting.'

Harry thought for a moment, while he didn't exactly fit in with the average Ravenclaw they'd be alright.

'I stand by my original statement. You would have done well in Slytherin, even more so now.'

'WHAT? NO!' Harry thought frantically.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry took off the sorting hat not letting the shock he felt show on his face, and looked into his father's face.

Total shock took over the Marauder's features, as clapping erupted from the Slytherin table.

Regulus grinned widely and waved him over to the empty seat beside of him, Harry swiftly made his way over to the seat and sat as the clapping stopped.

Black patted him on the back smirking.

Harry looked across the table and his eyes met the cold grey eyes of a seventeen year old Malfoy. Lucius inclined his head slightly and Harry did the same before looking around at the Slytherins. His stomach dropped as he realized everyone sitting around him was or was going to be a Death Eater.