Chapter Text
The sun illuminated all of New York City, the birds sang, and all the darkness of the early morning disappeared. The morning light shone brightly everywhere, illuminating the cars, roofs, and floors of the Big Apple.
The sun shone brightly on a huge two-story house. A man with black messy hair and green eyes was shaving a small black beard that spread across his face.
The man carefully and precisely ran the razor over his face, more specifically where the facial hair had been. Facial hair that was then removed by the razor with ease.He repeated the process several times until he saw that no more beard remained.
The man tapped the razor on the sink, removing the black facial hair from the razor. The man looked at his face carefully in the mirror that reflected his face above the sink.
The man stared at his reflection for a few seconds before calmly exiting the bathroom. It was getting late to take his children to school after all.
Upon exiting the bathroom, the toned body of the half-naked raven-haired man was in full display, wearing nothing but blue dress pants. His upper body looked toned, with small scars scattered across his back and abdomen. He had certainly built that body from years of training and many trips to the weight room . He looked very similar to Van Damme in his prime.
Curious, the man watched a black shirt rest on his bed. He walked calmly to where he was sleeping and carefully grabbed his shirt. Raising his arms next to the shirt, he gently slipped it over his body, covering his torso.
After putting it on, the green eyed father went to his closet, pulled out some black shoes, loafers they were called, and grabbed some black socks from a drawer nearby, slipping them over his feet, covering them.
Ready, the father of the household got out of bed and headed to his oldest son's room to wake him up. This man was none other than 28-year-old Harry Potter.
Passing by a family photo, you could see the aforementioned man with five children surrounding him. The one who looked the oldest, with the same messy hair as his father—though blond instead of black—and light blue eyes, stood on the man's right side, looking tired as two younger children tugged at either side of his pants. One of those two children lightly taller than the other one had black hair and blue eyes while the other had blond hair and blue eyes. In front of the man stood two brown haired children, one boy and the other one a girl with green eyes, both smiling broadly.
They were one big happy family.
The funny thing was that there was no mother in the photo. Or the rest of the pictures that decorated the walls of the house, only showing the father with his children.
The man walked toward the room, knocked on his oldest son's door, and received no answer. Smiling evilly at what he might do, the man attacked:
"James, wake up or I'll sell your entire Lego Star Wars collection on eBay!" the older man threatened his oldest son, who jumped up like a bat out of hell when he heard hurried footsteps inside his son's room.
In a few minutes, his oldest son had emerged from his room with a very unfriendly expression. James was 11 years old, his hair was blond, unlike his father's, his eyes were blue unlike his father's, and his hair was messy just like his father’s. The boy was dressed in a black blazer, a white oxford shirt, a black tie, blue pants, and black loafers.
"I'm up, I'm up," he repeated, annoyed, rubbing one of his eyes with one of his hands while striking a military pose with the other, making the man smile when he saw his son.
"Hahahahaha, I was playing sport. Come on, it's time we got the others up," the father spoke, looking at his son with a big smile.
"You don't play like that with my sleep, old man," said the little blue-eyed boy, annoyed at having been so abruptly lifted from his comfortable bed by the devil that was his father.
"Okay, okay, don't get mad at me, kiddo. I was playing. Come on... let's wake up Sam and Lily," his father said with an evil smile while making a sign to close his mouth with one of his fingers. James nodded with an evil smile, just like his father, and went with him to wake up his younger brothers.
Harry knocked twice and received no response. With a wicked grin on his face, his little morning prank could begin.
"Fine, I'll wake up Sam and you wake up Lily, okay?" Harry ordered his son, who nodded with a similar grin, and they both attacked.
"SAM, WAKE UP RIGHT NOW OR I'LL SELL YOUR MARIO PARTY COLLECTION!" the green-eyed man threatened his son.
"LILY, IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP RIGHT NOW, DAD'S GOING TO THROW YOUR SCIENTIFIC THEORIES IN THE TRASH!" the blond warned in a loud shout at the door.
Both shouts caused footsteps to scatter throughout the room, and several knocks were heard, whispered words that were probably insults directed at the older man, which made him smile widely and innocently at the same time.
The door opened, revealing a boy with dark brown hair and bright green eyes like his father's. His hair was styled similarly to his father's. The boy was 7-year-old Samuel Potter. He was dressed in a black blazer, a white oxford shirt with a tie, blue pants, and black loafers to finish his outfit.
Beside him was a girl of the same age, dark brown hair and green eyes, her straight hair falling down her back. The girl was wearing a short skirt, a white oxford shirt, and a blue blazer, along with black loafers. The girl was 7-year-old Lily Potter.
"No, Dad, I'm up, I'm up," said Sam the brown haired boy, completely frightened, panting from the speed witch which he had dressed.
"Don't you dare throw away my theories, Daddy!" the little girl which was Sam’s twin, squealed panting at the speed she had gotten dressed.
"Hehehe, okay, now go eat, my little devils. The food has already been served by your very handsome father, and today is Edward’s first day of preschool. So I'll go wake him and little Jack up so we can go," the father informed the children, who smiled and nodded at this.
"Aren't you going to eat, Daddy?" Lily asked, worried about her father.
"I've already eaten something, sweetie. Don't worry about me. Go eat, you need it more than me. All of you do. So please go eat, I won't be long," the father replied, smiling lovingly at his children, who ran to hug him at those words. James reached for his stomach, and Sam and Lily hugged his legs. Harry leaned in slightly and hugged his three children tightly.
The hug didn't last long, as the children quickly separated and ran off to eat.
"I love those kids so much, they're the only reason I'm still here," the smiling man thought, watching them go down the stairs before getting up and heading back to his two sons' rooms.
When he arrived, the black-haired man entered the room and went to where little Edward was sleeping. He gently rocked the boy's body, and he slowly opened his eyes. Little Edward, a 5-year-old with black hair and blue eyes, had just woken up.
"Hey buddy, good morning sleepyhead. I know you're tired and probably don't want to go, but you have to go buddy. Today’s your first day of preschool." With a smile, the man spoke to his son. Instead of crying or screaming, the boy simply stood up quickly and gave his father a big hug.
"I love you," were the simple words of the boy, who hugged his father tightly.
"I love you too, Eddie," the father replied with a strong and comforting hug.
"Come on, Eddie." "Let's get you dressed," the man told the boy, who nodded and was dressed by his father in that uncomfortable uniform.
"This uniform is uncomfortable!" the little black-haired boy complained at being restricted in that uniform closer to something like a prison jumpsuit.
"I understand you, buddy. Imagine how I feel," Harry said, pointing to his arms, which were imprisoned by that black compression shirt, which strained forcefully against his muscular frame making his veins protrude.
"Hmm, he should wake up too!" He pointed angrily at the form of his younger brother sleeping peacefully.
"I'll wake him up now. You're such a little hater. If you're not happy, no one can be, huh?" The man laughed mockingly at his son's words and went to do just that.
Gently, the blond-haired boy moved to the bed of the last child in the house: 4-year-old Henry Potter.
"Come on, buddy, you have to get up." “We have to go take your lazy brothers to school” With a mocking laugh the black-haired man spoke, earning a dirty look from Edward knowing that they were talking badly about him.
Calmly, the little boy stood up and was immediately picked up by Harry, who was rocking him with one arm, while with his other arm he extended his hand to Edward, who took it.
With all his children awake and ready to face a new day, Harry calmly walked down the stairs. As he went down the stairs and reached the kitchen, he saw his two sons competing to see who would finish their food the fastest. Lily watched them and muttered something about silly brothers.
Spoiler: James had won.
The blond boy smiled arrogantly, victorious, earning Sam to stick his tongue out at him in frustration of losing the friendly competition between brothers.
"Okay, kids, get your bags. I don't want to come back three times like last year. While certainly your teachers enjoyed watching me come in those three times to drop your bags, I didn't. But anyway, today I'm very proud, James. You're officially starting middle school. Little Edward is starting first grade, and my video game addict and my little genius are starting second grade." The tall man spoke with a smile, earning smiles from his children.
"I'm so excited, old man. I want to make lots of friends," said the blond boy, excited to meet new people.
"Me too. I want to meet a friend who loves video games as much as I do!" said his second oldest boy, Sam, also excited to meet new people in another new year.
"I just want to see what new equipment we'll be using in science class," Lily admitted, looking at the face of her father, who sighed at his little girl's words.
"I know you'll make new friends; you’re good kids, after all. As for you, Lily, please try to make friends and don't bury yourself in work. Friends are the most precious thing we have in this world; they're like our second family." The black-haired boy smiled, ruffling James and Sam’s hair before ruffling Lily’s, who looked at him with a tender pout.
"Dad, did you ever have a friend?" Lily curiously asked her father, who looked at her in surprise but smiled sadly as he looked at her.
"Yes. I once had a best friend, honey, but he went with god a long time ago. He was the only one I ever had," the man smiled sadly, looking at Lily, who understood what her father meant.
James and Sam understood what he meant and instinctively hugged their father. He was surprised by the contact but hugged back, as did Lily and Edward, who joined in.
When they separated again, the children went to get their bags, and Harry watched them leave with a huge smile on his face. He loved his children; they were the only lights that illuminated his sad and dark life.
The fact is, he had been married, several times in fact. Those children were the product of that love, but like everything... everything comes to an end. And sometimes, love ends, and loyalty isn't enough to keep a relationship stable.
Yes, his love life was a mess, but something good came out of that disastrous love life: his little devils, whom he loved and treasured with all his heart.
He would do anything for those children.
Anything.
And if someone tried to take them away from him...well, may god help him.
"We're ready, Dad," the little blond boy said, pulling his father out of his thoughts.
"I see. Well, let's go," the man ordered, putting a black blazer over his compression shirt and wearing dark sunglasses.
"Okay, brats, off to school." Smiling and going to open the door to his house, the man opened it, watching with satisfaction and pride as James took little Edward by the hand.
As they left the house, they approached their father's car, a huge black 2024 Cadillac Escalade parked in front of the house.
James opened the back door and, being the oldest, helped Edward get into his car seat because his small frame couldn't yet put on his own seat.
Sam and Lily got into their seats and fastened their seatbelts without difficulty.
Harry went to the back and sat Henry in his special seat while Henry looked at him tenderly, momentarily separated from his father.
"Calm down, little guy, we'll be together soon," he said, noticing Henry’s desire to hug him.
The man went to the front of the Cadillac and, with James in the passenger seat, pressed the start button and simultaneously hit the brake, and the car roared to life. Putting the car in reverse, the man began to drive.
The man drove carefully through the busy, crowded streets of New York City, all while trying to get to The Anderson School, his children's school. Upon arriving at the school and parking, the man became the center of attention.
First of all, he was the only man in sight among many women with one or two children, and second, he had five children with him: one in his arms, another with a younger brother holding his hand, and two more walking while clinging to their father like gum.
Ideas, wolf whistles, and heart eyes all flew against the single father of five. He was an extremely attractive man, tall and well-built, if the muscles under that blazer were anything to go by.
Accustomed to female attention for years, the man simply ignored it and walked with his children to the entrance. Upon arriving, he kissed Lily on the cheek, gave Sam a fist bump, and gave James a high five. But for Edward...
"Dad! Dad! I don't want to go!" the little boy suddenly cried out when he saw the strange man from the school who was directing him inside.
Harry sighed, he had expected this reaction, so the father squatted until he was eye level with his boy, sadness plagued Harry’s eyes upon seeing his son react that way.
"Eddie. I'm sorry I can't be with you here today, buddy, but I have to go to work. I know change is scary and that you don't want to go. I understand, but I would be very happy if you went to school and didn't cry for me." The man said, looking sadly at his son.
"You know what?, if you don't cry all day, when you get out of school we'll go buy you that toy you've been wanting, okay?" Smiling, the man asked his son, who brightened at that.
"Yesh!," Edward replied happily.
"Fine, then go get them, tiger!" Harry shouted happily, turning Edward around and gently pushing him into the school.
"Thanks for everything, Dad! We love you, you're the best, you're our hero!" The children thanked their father, who smiled at those words.
"I love you kids too, but Daddy has to go to work, hahaha!" Shouting as he ran like a madman the older Potter arrived at his SUV to go to work with Henry. Whom he was carrying in his arms, it’s a good thing his job was one where he was the boss.
He started the SUV and started heading to his office.
Thinking about what his children said to him before he dropped them off:
"Thanks for everything, Dad. We love you. You're the best. You're our hero."
"Heh. If they ever knew the truth, they'd never want to see me again. I'm not a hero." That was the grim thought of the seemingly cheerful man who drove calmly to his office.
As a toothy smile appeared in his head along with small memories from years ago. Memories from his past. His past was covered in fire and blood, death had been a part of it along with suffering. A past he wanted to bury deep inside himself and prayed to God would never come out.
He wouldn't want to see how his children would react to him. But most of all, he wouldn't want to see how they would see him afterward.
He was not a hero after all, he was a monster.