Chapter Text
The American street was quiet and peaceful as two figures popped into visibility. They weren’t the strangest people that those living on the street had seen but they were certainly up there. Dumbledore carried a small bundle in his arms, wrapped in a blue blanket. With another hand he held up the Put-Outer and clicked it until no street lamps were on. He chuckled as he saw the large obnoxious neon light of FentonWorks. McGonagall pursed her lips at it disapprovingly.
“Are you certain that Madeline Evans lives here?” She asked.
“I believe it’s Madeline Fenton now.” Dumbledore said mildly. “Lily mentioned her cousin had gotten married a bit before she and James did.”
He looked down as little Daniel Potter sighed in his sleep. A scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead was fresh. Dumbledore pulled a letter out of his robes but before he could move to set down the bundle of blankets, someone inside the Fenton house noticed him and opened the door.
“Excuse me?” Madeline Fenton asked. “A-albus?”
Dumbledore smiled at her. “Hello Mrs. Fenton, I’m...afraid I have unfortunate news regarding your cousin Lily.”
“Oh-...well come in, it’s freezing out here.” She opened the door wide and let them in. “I- Albus is that- ?”
“Yes, This is Lily and James’ Potter’s son. I’m afraid that ...they have met an unfortunate end-”
Maddie Fenton gasped, tears already in her eyes. “Don’t tell me- he found them?”
Dumbledore nodded solemnly as McGonagall dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief as Maddie went through a number of emotions.
“H-how. I thought they were supposed to be protected?” She asked,
“Their secret keeper betrayed them.” Dumbledore said plainly.
“That-.” Maddie hissed under her breath. She took a deep breath and looked back at the child. “That scar... “
“Yes...that is where ….” Dumbledore said, “Where Voldemort-” Maddie flinched “cursed him.”
“I see...poor thing” She said “May I?”
Dumbledore nodded and handed the bundle to her. “He’s adorable” She looked up at Dumbledore confused. “Where’s his brother? Lily told me she had twins.”
“I have placed Harry with blood relatives in England.” Dumbledore said. “For the sake of protecting the boys I have split them up amongst Lily’s family. They will be safe,”
Maddie pursed her lips thoughtfully hoping that surely, Dumbledore didn’t mean...
“You know, Lily’s sister hated magic, right?” She said, eyeing the two. McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Dumbledore.
“I have explained everything to them in a letter.” Dumbledore said evenly. “Will you take Daniel?”
“Of course!” Maddie said. “We’ll raise him as our own until the time comes.”
An hour later, Dumbledore and McGonagall left Maddie and Jack Fenton as they put their new adopted son to bed. Dumbledore had stayed to explain as much as he deemed prudent. He hoped that things would work out as he intended. He suspected that Harry may have a less pleasant life than Daniel but it would keep the two safe until the right time came.
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Try as she might, Maddie Fenton never felt right about Harry being with Lily’s sister. When Danny was five she sent a letter to Petunia suggesting letting the two children meet. While she tried to make it sound as if it were for the children but Maddie hoped to get a look at Harry and see that he was being treated right. She had met Petunia and that horrible man she married at their wedding, and it seemed like he brought out all of Petunia’s worst aspects. He was a bigot, and as far as Maddie was concerned a bit of a brute. All of his stories from his boarding school made him sound like quite a bully and those were only the ones he told.
Yes, Maddie didn’t trust for a minute that those two would treat Harry well.
She waited anxiously for the letter everyday. When she finally got it she was barely surprised when she got a furious diatribe about how unfair it was that they were ‘saddled’ with Harry. Maddie exhaled furiously as she read it. Just as she thought. She penned a letter back suggesting rather bluntly that Dumbledore be damned, if Petunia didn’t want Harry, Maddie would gladly take him.
A week after the letter was sent Maddie got a call. Their seven year old daughter Jasmine answered it while Maddie was cooking dinner.
“Mom, it’s for you. The lady sounds really rude though” Jazz said wrinkling her nose. Maddie sighed and took the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello Madeline” Came Petunia’s sharp voice. “I take it, that rude little girl was your daughter, then?”
“Yes.” Maddie said shortly. “Why are you calling me, Petunia?”
“Your offer, of course. When would be the best time for me to bring the boy to you” Maddie sighed. Petunia spoke of the poor child like he was an animal.
“The boy has a name, Petunia.” Maddie said shortly. It was worse than she thought. With some sniping, the two got to talking. They finally managed to arrange a time that was convenient for both of them.
As she hung up Danny tugged on her apron. “Who was that, Mommy?” When Maddie looked into Danny’s big blue eyes she found it hard to believe that someone could hate an innocent young child that much.
“It's a surprise,” She told him with a smile. Though inwardly she was worrying. Once she introduced the two, they would have to break it to Danny that he was adopted. She worried how he would take that news. When they took him in, Maddie got a glamor expert to make Danny look more like the Fentons to avoid funny questions. They also managed to hide that scar of his so he wouldn’t stand out.
Within months the day came, and Maddie had Jack watch the children while she went to the airport to pick up Harry.
She waited in the terminal until she saw the familiar form of Petunia in her classy middle class British clothing and a very undersized boy wearing clothing that was obviously far too big for him, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
Maddie narrowed her eyes. The child looked like he could have been a toddler. Petunia marched up to her.
“Do you even feed him, Petunia?” she said coldly.
“Don’t you judge me Madeline! We never asked for the child-”
“Oh no you didn’t ask to raise your dead sister’s child after she was murdered-” Maddie spat as Petunia twitched in protest. “It’s common decency, Petunia! Common decency! We weren’t forewarned when we got Danny. But we took him in and loved him because he was an innocent child !” By now many people watched and were whispering making Petunia look very uncomfortable.
“Tell me, Tuney-” Maddie used Lily’s old nickname for her sister, to twist the knife, Petunia flinched, opening her mouth to speak. “How well do you take care of your son? Does he get second hand clothing to wear? Barely any food? Any toys?”
Petunia stammered. People seemed to be looking at her and the child noticing the inequality. “You don’t know what it’s like- seeing those eyes! Just- just take him!” She looked at the child and told him with a forced niceness to go to his “Aunt Madeline”
The boy looked nervous as he shuffled over to Maddie. Maddie gently laid a hand on his shoulder, noticing him flinch. She stared at Petunia.
“Why is he flinching, Petunia?” She asked in a voice as cold as the arctic.
“He-he’s a little liar,” Petunia said. People were staring at her now. Glaring. One even had their phone out
“Children don’t fake instincts, Petunia” Maddie said. “Now, please never speak to him or us again and I’ll consider not sending the police to your house. I’ll consider it.”
“You’re one to judge. You’re just like her, like all of them. Freaks! I don’t want anything to do with your lot anymore!” Petunia spat. She turned around and walked off, still getting glares from people in the crowd around them. Little Harry looked like he was terrified and wanted to sink through the floor.
Maddie found herself wondering what she was going to do. The boy was mistreated worse than she’d imagined. “Sweetie, it’s okay” She said quietly trying to sooth him as he looked like he was about to cry. “We’re going to go somewhere where you won’t be hurt anymore. Is there any food you like?”
Harry sniffled. “Dudley always got hamburgers,” he said quietly.
“We’ll get a hamburger on our way home then.” She said. “Do you like ice cream?”
Slowly he nodded. “Can you take my hand so you don’t get lost, sweetie” He nodded and reached up to hold her hand. “Tell you what, when you feel like it we’ll get you some new clothes.” She knew Danny’s clothes might fit him, but what he needed was his own things.
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That night, Maddie walked in the door with Harry, calmly eating some fries from a Happy Meal bag. She had called Jack ahead of time to prepare Jazz and Danny for a new member of the family joining them. She still worried how Danny would handle the news.
When Jack came in Harry yelped and hid behind Maddie shaking. Jack’s smile faded.
“.....what’s wrong?” He asked as Maddie soothed the child’s whimpering.
“It’s worse than we thought, Jack” She said. “Not only is he severely neglected and not fed well, but when I reached to touch his shoulder he flinched. That means-”
Jack went pale and then his visage darkened. Normally Jack Fenton was big but cuddly and nonthreatening. But at the moment he looked like a furious bear out to kill.
“Jack….don’t scare him” She said. He nodded, shaking, and gently knelt down to Harry’s level.
“Hey kiddo. It’s okay.. I know I’m big but I wouldn’t hurt hurt a fly...unless its a gho-”
“JACK!” Maddie said.
“Right, I won’t hurt you. Don’t worry” Harry looked unsure.
“How did Danny take it?” Maddie asked.
Jack smiled. “Nothing to worry about. He’s excited to have a new brother!”
“...well...we’ll still have to tell him…” Maddie sighed. “I’ll put him to bed. We have to give him time to adjust” Jack nodded. He looked down at the small shaking child in cheap beat up glasses, hoping that one day he could have a father-son relationship with him. Or at the very least Harry wouldn’t fear him.
The unspoken association with that horrible boar Petunia married made him sick. He had met Vernon Dursley, at their wedding. Jack wasn’t the smartest, he knew, but he could tell when someone was judging him, looking down at him the way that Vernon did. Jack , if he were honest, didn’t take Vernon for a man that was smarter than him, but he recognized that cruelty and that attitude. Vernon Dursley was a bully. And he learned by listening to the man talk , that he was a hell of a bigot.
He watched Maddie walk up the stairs holding Harry, the child had tensed up but allowed her to carry him as she took him upstairs.
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Maddie brought Harry into the spare bedroom, before he arrived she got it all set up like a child’s bedroom complete with a child size bed.
“I get my own room?” he asked shyly. Maddie blinked.
“Of course you get your own room sweetie.” She said. Then concerned, she asked, “Where did you sleep before, Harry?”
Harry looked down, chewing his lip. “It’s okay, you can tell me” She encouraged.
“T-the cupboard...under the stairs”
Maddie was seeing red. She worked to keep herself calm. She held him close and tucked him into the bed. Thankfully, Maddie Fenton was good at compartmentalizing her emotions. Most of the time.
“Harry, things are going to be different here. You will get to eat, and play and be treated like everyone else. If you’re upset you can always come to me or Un- or Jack alright?” She got the feeling that he wasn’t so keen on Uncles or Aunts after living with Petunia and Vernon.
“Thank you Aunt Maddie.” he said quietly. “Nobody...nobody else believed me”
She hugged him gently and warmly.
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Once Harry was safely dozing off to sleep Maddie closed the door and took a deep breath. She went to the office fishing around in one of the filing cabinets for something she hadn’t used in years. She pulled out a deep red envelope in a package labeled “Howler” and ripped it open. She got out a pen and pulled the paper out .
Albus Dumbledore was about to get a piece of her mind.
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The next day Jack took Jasmine to a nearby carnival for a Daddy-Daughter day. She had been delighted though perhaps a touch overbearing when trying to welcome Harry to the family. Harry and Danny seemed to still be figuring each other out, staring at one another. Neither had, in Maddie’s opinion, had the experience of having a brother before.
She noticed Danny’s eyes wander up to Harry’s scar.
The two boys now sat on the couch. For the time being Harry wore some of Danny’s clothes, which fit quite a bit better than the clothes he had been wearing before. Danny was a bit small despite being well-fed.
Maddie took a deep breath. “Danny , sweetie, I know this might be a surprise for you-”
“I know, Mommy. Harry’s my brother now!” It made her happy to hear such acceptance.
“Yes, well...you and Harry are...well ..” She thought about how to put this. “Jasmine is still your sister and will always be your sister, but, when you were just a baby we took you in as our own.”
Danny’s eyes opened wide. “We promised someone that we’d take care of you.” He looked at her wide wide eyes. Looking scared.
“What do you mean, Mommy?”
“I wasn’t your birth mother, Danny. I adopted you-”
“You’re still my mommy!” Danny said heatedly.
“Yes. Well I’m glad you think so. Harry is your brother. Your twin brother” Maddie said. “He came from ..well he came from a home that wasn’t very nice to him. I expect you to be kind and understanding to your brother. He may take some time to adjust to things here.”
“I like it here!” Harry said quickly, looking perhaps worried that she had gotten the wrong idea.
“I understand, Harry. I’m glad to hear it. I just want to make sure everyone is patient with you.”
Danny nodded. “It’ll be cool to have a brother, Jazz is always trying to dress me up or get me to play dolls.” He turned to Harry “You ever play with spaceships?”
Harry looked down, as if embarrassed . “I only got old, broken toys.”
It made Maddie’s heart ache. Danny frowned before turning to her. “We need to get Harry his own toys, Mommy!”
Maddie smiled. “Exactly what I was thinking sweetie. Let me get my wallet and we’ll have a mother and sons day.”
Danny looked excited and Harry looked shocked as if this was completely new to him. She decided that she would make sure that one day Harry would be used to being treated like a loved child.
Before they left, Maddie gently covered his scar with a magical concealer she used before Danny got his glamour. She explained to him that there was nothing wrong with the scar but it was a magic scar and people would notice it. That they needed to keep him hidden.
“Hidden from who…”
Maddie sighed. “Did ...did your aunt and uncle tell you about magic”
“Uncle Vernon said magic isn’t real,” Harry said.
“WHAT? Magic is totally real!” Danny said, looking shocked.
“Danny...calm down” Maddie said. She turned to Harry. “Harry, do strange things happen, when you get scared or angry?” Hesitantly Harry nodded.
“It’s why my aunt says I’m a fre-”
"Harry James Potter, you are not a freak!” Maddie said, sternly. “You are a wizard. Your aunt was always jealous of your mother for being a witch.”
“A witch? Isn’t that ...isn’t that a bad thing?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, a witch is just a woman who can do magic. I’m a witch as well, but I went to a different school than your mother did.” Harry’s eyes widened.
“Magic? I-is that what I can do?” He asked.
“Yes. Right now you just do accidental magic. When you get old enough you’ll go to school and learn to control it.” She said. Harry’s face eased into an uneasy smile. “It’s okay to be a wizard, Harry.”
They went out to the mall, and in the car, she gave the boys the standard secrecy talk. As they walked through the mall, she held each of the two boys, her sons, in her hands. She almost felt bad, knowing they were Lily’s but Maddie had a hard time not thinking of them as her own. She loved to see Harry’s face light up as she helped him find clothing, and later toys, just for him .
Rather than being jealous like she might have feared, Danny excitedly watched, almost bouncing around them as Harry got to enjoy, for once in his life, being a priority. Danny had taken the adoption talk better than she could have hoped. Maddie could grudgingly understand Dumbledore motives in separating the two, but it was clear that having a twin made both of them happy.
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The next months were still hard at times, as Harry adjusted to life, still dealing with the figurative ghosts of his abusive life. It took quite some time before Harry stopped being nervous around Jack. Maddie tried the best she could, wondering if it would be safe to get him a psychologist. She did the best she could with her limited psychological knowledge. Danny and Jazz were as understanding as one could expect children to be.
But before long she saw Harry start to heal, and become less afraid. Maddie still wanted to curse the Dursleys and Dumbledore when she listened to him talk about his old life. Despite what she had told Petunia she had phoned the English authorities and got in touch with child welfare. Such gregarious abuse could not be ignored. Eventually when Maddie felt it was safe, after getting a glamour for Harry and explaining to him why it was important for his safety to answer to Harry Fenton, she got a social worker in the wizard community to talk to Harry about his abuse.
She took the boys to get their school things, and new glasses for the both of them. She felt teary eyed as she watched the two walk together to school, and saw Danny introducing Harry to Sam and Tucker, his best friends.
Harry and Jack eventually became closer , as surprisingly Harry shared his enthusiasm about ghosts. Jack enthusiastically told Harry about his family’s wizarding history.
One afternoon, on a Friday she picked up the two from school to go to a science show. The two excitedly told her about their day. Harry’s magical accidents were starting to become rare now.
Somewhere in between the conversation (Danny had fallen asleep on the road) she heard Harry say three words that nearly melted her heart.
“I love you, Mum”
She smiled, slightly tearfully. “I love you, too sweetie”