Hudson awoke to the sliver of bright sunlight seeping through the crack in his blinds. He opened his eyes slowly. While still half-asleep, he sensed that something was wrong. There was this feeling of...well, something was wrong, of that he was sure. Then, as he became more and more aware, he realized that it was very late in the morning. He leapt up, confused. He walked slowly to the balcony. The Wizarding Radio News was playing downstairs.

He crept down the steps, fully familiar with each one. A figure was facing away from him, stirring a wand in a pan, making scrambled eggs. A floorboard creaked underneath him, and the figure whirled. He jumped back. This was not Mommy or Daddy. He peered at the figure, startled. She was a woman, middle-aged. In a burst of recognition, he realized that it was his next-door neighbor.

"Arabella?" he questioned slowly.

"Yes, Hudson. It's me. Sorry, I was pretty startled there for a moment! How did you get down those stairs so quietly?"

He stared at her. "Where are Mommy and Daddy?" he asked suspiciously. "Why didn't I go to school today? I'm not sick."

"No, you're not sick. Ummmm...." Arabella bit her lip. She seemed to be thinking hard. "Hudson, how old are you?"

"I'm nine. My birthday was last week."

"Ah, yes. Boy, you're growing up so fast, I always lose track! Well, Hudson, they found out about a terrible thing last night, very late when you were asleep. Your Mommy and Daddy went to where the terrible thing was happening, to see if they could help. I really can't tell you anything more. They'll be back tonight, late afternoon at the earliest. They said that you didn't have to go to school today. We are going to spend the day together."

Hudson just stared at her. Miss second grade today? Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be back till late? What was going on?

"Now," said Arabella with forced cheerfulness, "what do you want to do today? It can be anything...within reason."

Hudson's face broke into a smile. "I wanna....go get ice cream!"

"Hudson! It's ten o'clock! How can you be thinking about ice cream?"

"You asked what I wanna do today. I want ice cream."

"How about ice cream and then the zoo? We can see some monkeys and tigers and bears."

"Yeah. But ice cream first!"

Arabella laughed. "Okay, whatever. Ice cream first, you crazy kid. Now go upstairs and put on something besides those pj's, and I'll get my coat. Hurry up. Last to the door has to pay!"

Hudson laughed and raced upstairs. As he got to the balcony and was heading to his room, he heard Arabella turn up the news.

"My favorite was...the giraffe! Imagine a neck like that!" Hudson was practically bouncing up and down from all the excitement. He had had such a wonderful day!

"Yeah, imagine having a sore throat. You would need surgery!" Arabella grinned as she took out her wand. Muttering a charm, she unlocked the door to Hudson's house. They strode inside. As they were taking off their coats, a voice called from inside.

"Hudson? Is that you?"

"Mommy!" Hudson raced into his mother's arms, giving her a huge hug. He stepped back. "Mommy, have you been crying?"

His mother just held him tighter, clinging to him with alarming desperation as she sobbed.

"I'll just go," Arabella said quietly.

His mother looked up. "T-thank you," she sobbed. "S-sorry for being so sudden."

"No problem. Feel free anytime." Arabella gave Hudson's mother one last sympathetic look before turning and exiting the way she came.

"Hudson?" A deep voice called from the Living Room. "Clara, you had better bring him in here. Hudson, we have someone we want you to meet."

Clara stood, and took her son's hand. She had the appearance of a thirtysomething woman who had aged considerably in a short time. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she clenched Hudson's hand as though afraid that he would be taken from her.

Hudson was now terrified. He followed his mother into the living room. The room was dark. He looked around. At first, he couldn't see anyone. He was about to ask where the someone he was going to meet was, when he spotted a tiny figure in the corner. He looked closer.

It was a little girl. She was incredibly pale, and she looked very fragile. Her eyes were huge in a small head. Her eyes terrified him; they were vacant and lifeless. He looked deeper into them, seeking for some ray of emotion that would make her real to him, make her something he could understand and deem a human. He had never seen eyes so empty, could not comprehend that life could go on without emotion. He looked deeper, grasping....and saw in the very depths of those large, black eyes a flicker of sadness. He sighed, overwhelmed, and turned to his parents.

"Mommy, Daddy....who is this?"

They were silent.

"Mommy?" he pressed. "Who is this?"

She answered hesitantly. "This, Hudson, is your new little sister. Her name is Hope. She is your age. She is a very sad little girl. She won't talk to you, but try to be her friend. Be very gentle with her."

Hudson stared at her. "What?" His head was swimming. There were so many questions. "Where did she come from? Who won't she talk? Why is she my sister? Why is she here? She doesn't look nine."

This time, it was Hudson's father that answered. "Hudson those are all very good questions. But for now, I want you to forget about them. All that matters now is that this is a girl that needs you, needs us. Can you do that?"

Hudson looked at the girl, who had not moved and was still looking at him. He looked at her thin frame, at her huge eyes. And in a whisper that filled the room, he answered, "yes."

Hudson lay in his bed, trying to fall asleep. He could hear crying from the room down the hall, where Hope was staying. His parents lived two floors down, in the basement, and he knew that they could not hear her. He also knew that he should, as a new brother, go and see her now.

"But I'm so afraid," he whispered into the dark. This girl was so strange, so terribly different. He could tell that she was so very different from him. He could not imagine happiness in those eyes. He rolled over restlessly. Those eyes. He would never get the image of them out of his head, never. And yet....

In a moment of determination, he sat up and walked out of the room. As he walked down the hall, he heard the sobs more closely. They were more animal than human, really. He paused outside her closed door. He closed his eyes, shaking with fright. He dug for the bravery to open the door, to comfort a sister he didn't know. His hand moved mechanically, opening the door with a twist of fingers. There was a grunt, and movement. He looked inside. His parents had put a nightlight by the bed, which had obviously not been touched. Hope was in the far corner of the room, curled up. She was obviously terrified.

"Hey," Hudson said softly, shutting the door. His eyes adjusted to the nightlight quickly. "Hey there, Hope. I'm Hudson, your new big brother. I just....well, I heard you crying and I wanted...um. To let you know that I'm here for you. Really. He walked slowly over to her, and sat down about ten feet away from where she was. "I really think that I can help you. I mean, who else is going to, anyway? I don't know anything about you, where you came from or anything like that. But if you, well, if you want me to be your brother, I'll do the best I can."

She just stared at him, into his eyes. Her eyes, he noted, glowed with an almost unnatural light. But these eyes were different than the ones earlier that day. They were searching. They were filled with confusion. They seemed to see his soul as he struggled to meet them, willing himself not to look away. Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears. With a cry, she flung her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. Tears were streaming down her face. She looked up at him with trust, desperation, and joy. He knew that a barrier had been broken. And he cried there in the dark, holding her as she cried into his shirt. He cried for her pain, knowing not the source but sensing that she would always be hurt, too deeply for him to know. "I'll protect you," he promised between sobs. "I promise. No one will ever hurt you again. Ever. I will always make sure."

Six Years Later....

Harry awoke with a start. He had been having a dream, a terrible dream. A little girl.... He shook his head, willing it away. It was too depressing. He had been having enough depressing dreams lately. Mostly about Cedric and that night. He shuddered.

He sat up and put on his glasses, fumbling in the dark. He turned on the light, and looked around. His room was as ordinary as could be expected, considering who he was. As a wizard attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he did have some unusual items in his room. One was a birdcage, empty at the moment because his owl, Hedwig, was taking a letter to Ron, Harry's best friend from school. Harry desperately wanted to stay at The Burrow for the end of summer.

Harry's fifteenth birthday had passed, and he was determined to get away from his horrible Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. He hated even asking the Weasleys, but he was getting desperate. The Dursleys had made a huge fuss out of Harry's birthday this year, saying that as a bonus gift he could do three times as much work that week as usual. Even then, his friends' gifts had almost made up for the Dursley's nasty behavior. He had received a dozen books about Quiddich from Hermione, his other best friend, a huge package of sweets from Ron that nearly killed the Weasley family owl, Errol, and a severely misshapened sweater from Hagrid, as well as an incredible Foe-Glass from his godfather, Sirius.

He looked at their cards happily, Hermione's in perfect handwriting, Ron's in an endearing sort of scrawl, Hagrid's almost illegible, and Sirius' in an odd-colored ink that Harry had a weird feeling about - it was bright red and sort of messy. There was also a large pile of spellbooks in the corner of the room, along with a broomstick leaning against the wall. Soothed by the cards and still very tired, it being the middle of the night, he turned off the light, took off his glasses, rolled over, and went to sleep.