My Brother's Keeper
by ChatterChick
Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.
A/N: I thought I'd write this for fun. It's my take on Harry-has-a-sister and I hope I can bring some life into a tired trope. He's still Boy-Who-Lived in this. The alternative events including what happened to Lily and why James is alive will be eventually revealed. I intend this to be similar to the Harry Potter series where you learn a little more about that night each year. So read, please enjoy and maybe review and let me know what you think! Feedback is hugely appreciated as are all my readers.
Chapter 1: The Second Child
"Where Mummy?" Harry asked. It wasn't the first time he asked for his parents.
Lily had gone into labour several hours ago. Sirius had been called in to entertain Harry in the sitting room while Lily and James were preoccupied in the bedroom. James had put muffler charms around the bedroom so Harry wouldn't be upset by the noises, so Sirius had no idea what was going on upstairs. He wondered if Lily was done yet, wondered if everything was fine with her and the baby.
With the Potters still sequestered away from the world, Lily hadn't even been able to go see a proper healer for a check-up and the birth would have to be at the Potters' home.
At this point, James had finished half of his healer training and was able to assist the birth himself. Harry had been born at a muggle hospital under a false identity. Becoming a father for the first time had been nerve-wrecking enough for James without leaving his family open and exposed during a war and leaving his wife and child to muggle medicine.
"Daddy's helping Mummy take the baby out of her belly," Sirius tried to explain. Lily's growing stomach and the baby inside had fascinated Harry the past few months. He remembered Harry's delight when he would awkwardly pat Lily's stomach and be rewarded with a kick or response from the baby. "When they're done, you'll get your new brother or sister."
"They little like me?" Harry asked. Sirius ruffled the messy mop of Potter hair. This was the first time Harry would get to meet another child. He was glad Harry would get to have some normalcy and a playmate as he grew older.
"Even littler! Want to make a bet, Harry?" Sirius asked the toddler. "We'll have biscuits for supper if you can guess if you're getting a brother or sister."
Harry had accumulated an impressive amount of lost bets against Sirius for a boy not yet two. Although Sirius was quick to forgive Harry's losses and give him the promised prize anyway.
"I get naming rights for your first child if you lose. What do you say, Harry? Brother or sister?"
Harry titled his head in thought. "Brother!"
Sirius chuckled. He had been hoping for a boy too.
The door upstairs opened and Sirius' ears perked up as he heard the soft murmurs of James' voice. A tenseness that he hadn't been aware of subsided. James sounded happy, everything must have gone okay. He could hear the heavy footsteps on the old, wooden stairs and then the muted footsteps on the carpet. Suddenly James was standing in front of him with a bundle of blue blankets, a wide grin across his face. Sirius felt his own lips pull back into a smile at his friend's happiness.
"A girl," James proudly informed them. "She's beautiful, looks just like her Mummy."
"And Lily?"
"She's fine, just resting for now."
"Let me see," Harry pleaded as he pulled James' trouser leg. "Let me see!"
"A little sister for Harry," James knelt down so Harry could inspect this new member of the family. Harry seemed curious at first; pulling the blue blanket back to get a good look at her wrinkled, pink face. "What do you think?"
"Don't want sister," Harry announced. He looked up at the adults around him. "She too little."
He seemed doubtful of his new sister's ability to be much use as a playmate. The next few weeks would only reconfirm his initial misgivings, and eventually lead to resentment as the new sister received extra attention and taxed their energies.
"She'll get bigger, just like her brother did."
Harry protested, as if they were trying to deceive him."Was not that little!"
"Yes you were," James laughed. "How else would you have fit inside Mummy's belly?"
Sirius ruffled Harry's hair since James' arms were full with the baby. Cautiously, James stood up again, cuddling his new daughter into his chest. James' entire being beamed with a new-father glow. He seemed determine to commit every last detail of his new child to memory. He stared at her, transfixed at the sight and it appeared that the feeling was mutual as the baby stared back at him.
"Would you like to hold her?" James offered, glancing up at Sirius.
Sirius mutely nodded, holding his arms out and listening as James instructed him how to hold a newborn. There was very little reaction at the change of person, but Sirius mused that must have been a good thing. Harry screamed bloody murder when Lily had first given him to Sirius.
"Why hello there," Sirius murmured. The baby's eyes starred unabashedly up at him now. She had the traditional blue eyes of a newborn and honestly Sirius wouldn't have been able to tell her apart from any other. She was pretty, he decided, James' girl could only be beautiful. "Have you decided on a name?"
With his hands free, James tested her reflexes, poking her hands and watching as they curled around his finger. "Sophie Lily Potter."
xXxXx
"I think that's everything," James said as he consulted her school list one last time. "Sophie?"
Sophie wasn't paying attention as she eyed the crimson red and gold ink wells. Her father pulled out a bottle of jet black ink and another of midnight blue and put them in her basket along with her new eagle quills and rolls of parchment.
"You may want to wait until you're sorted before buying all Gryffindor colours." James teased her.
Her Uncle Sirius had the opposite opinion as he reappeared, carrying a stack of red and gold bounded notebooks. "I think she has enough supplies to last until third year," Sirius joked as he added them to her basket. "Does Harry need anything?"
Her father shook his head. "I gave him some gold and sent him with Ron and Hermione to pick up anything he's missing."
Sophie laughed. "He's probably spent it all at Quality Quidditch Supplies then. Said something earlier about needing new gloves – "
Another bottle of black ink and extra rolls of parchment were added to Sophie's basket for her brother.
"While you finish up here, I need Sophie's opinion on another purchase."
"Fine, fine," James said as he took Sophie's basket. "I'll meet you two at the Leaky for supper then?"
Sophie allowed herself to be pulled away from Amanuensis Quills, wondering what Sirius was up to now. There was always something thrilling about shopping with him. Sirius had no idea how to budget and had no regard for James' rules. Last time, he had taken her down Knockturn Alley to buy aconite at Mr Mulpepper's since Slug and Jiggey didn't carry any. Her father would have never allowed her to wander around such a place. Sirius didn't seem to mind, said Sophie was safe enough as long as she stuck close to him. They had lunch at Coffin Café and spent the afternoon trying to guess what the dark artefacts in the shop windows did.
"Now, how about I get you a gift for that acceptance letter," Sirius said as they parted ways with James. "I let Harry pick out an owl for his, would you want a pet or – "
"Really?" She asked, eagerly. "And you asked Dad?"
Sirius' eyebrows lifted innocently. "A pet it is!"
Sophie was giddy with excitement as Sirius led them towards Magical Menagerie. She had wanted her own pet since she was young. Her father always maintained that they already had the family owl, but then Sirius had gotten Harry an owl for Hogwarts and Sophie went green with jealousy before redoubling her efforts. With a great sweeping bow, Sirius held the door open for her.
"After you," he gallantly offered.
"Thank you," Sophie giggled as she attempted to give a mock curtsy in return.
"Now, were you thinking an owl like your brother?" Sirius asked as he inspected the owls in stock. A Great Horned Owl twisted his head around to stare back at Sirius. "There's always Eeylops Owl Emporium if you can't find one here."
An owl would be useful, and they were such beautiful creatures. Between her brother's and her father's owls, she didn't think she really needed one. She took a sideways glance at her godfather, wondering what he'd say. Sirius seemed more of a dog person to her, but what she really wanted was a cat.
"What about a cat?"
He pulled a face and gave a long suffering sigh. "I don't know where James went wrong with you."
"Dad said Mum had a cat when she went to Hogwarts."
James always said she reminded him of her mum. It made her happy to have so much in common with the woman she could barely remember. Lily had died when she was only four and she had so few memories of her. Sometimes, she purposely did things she knew her mum did just to have that connection.
"She did, bloody awful thing it was too. Are you sure you want one?" Sirius gave her a playful push towards the back of the store, where the cats were kept. A store clerk hurried over to them.
"This is the girls' room," the store clerk was saying as he let them into a room full of cats. "They've all been fixed."
Sophie smiled and started petting some of the cats who approached her, mewing for attention. She liked a small calico that purred as she leaned into Sophie's hand. She was so tiny and adorable. Sophie stood up, wandering around the room and looking at the other cats.
A large, short-haired grey cat leapt from the windowsill, claws extended, at Sophie's throat. She caught the cat midair, holding it with both hands. Sophie and the cat stared each other down for a moment. The cat's large, yellow eyes almost glaring at her.
Sirius let out a great barking laugh. "I like her!"
"That would be Artemis," the clerk said with a strained smile. "I think he likes you."
"You named a male, fixed cat after a goddess of fertility?" Sirius asked. He grinned, clearly fond of the devil already. "What do you think, Sophie?"
He seemed friendly now that he wasn't lunched midair. But Sophie still didn't trust Artemis.
"Artemis would probably do well at Hogwarts," the clerk started singing the cat's praises when he realized Sirius seemed interested in him. "I imagine that's where your daughter is going?"
People regularly assumed that Sirius was her father when the two of them were out. Sophie's paternal grandmother, Dorea Potter, was Sirius' great-aunt and had all the typical Black looks. Some of these, like the dark coloured hair, were passed on to James, and then onto her and Harry.
Sirius waved off the mistake. "Yes, she's going to Hogwarts."
The clerk wasn't really listening. "He's an outdoor cat so you'll have to let him out or he'll try to escape. But he comes right back. He's a bit of a scrapper, he kept picking fights and getting beat up by the other male cats. Very independent, but he seems keen for you. Good little hunter, whenever he sneaks out, he brings me back a dead rat."
Sophie made a face at the thought of being brought home a dead rat by her pet. Sirius, on the other hand, seemed delighted at the prospect of Artemis killing rats.
"Perfect," Sirius smiled. "We'll take him."
"You'll take him?!"
"We'll take him?!" Sophie and the clerk both echoed, staring at Sirius. She looked down at Artemis in surprise. Artemis, for his part, seemed content with the idea of going to Hogwarts with Sophie. He had settled into Sophie's arms and allowed her to pet his back.
The relieved clerk showed them around the store, occasionally handing Sirius items needed for a cat.
Sirius was rather merry as they walked back to the Leaky, whistling the tune of a popular Rampaging Hippogriff song. As suspected, Sirius hadn't consulted James about getting Sophie a cat until they had returned to the Leaky Cauldron with Artemis in hand. James sighed upon seeing them. "You could have given me some warning. Sophie, why don't you go wash up before supper?"
Sophie nodded, rushing upstairs to bring Artemis to the room she was sharing with her brother.
Harry was nowhere to be found, but Sophie was hardly surprised. He was inseparable from his two best friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, and was probably in one of their rooms. She washed up, and let Artemis out of his carrier to settle into their temporary home before joining the rest in the pub downstairs.
Supper turned out to be a rather chaotic affair.
Ron had written that his family would be staying at the Leaky Cauldron the last few days of the holidays to pick up school supplies and had invited Harry to go with them. Her dad had decided that they'd all join as they needed to pick up a few last minute things anyway.
So the Potters joined the Weasleys and the Grangers for supper at the Leaky. The hostess had to help them push four tables together for everyone to fit comfortably. Hermione's parents seemed a bit perplexed as they tried to engage in the conversation around them. None of the adults really knew how to speak with them. James, Sirius and Mr and Mrs Weasley were all pure-bloods and had no knowledge of the muggle world. James told the one story he had about the time he attended his sister-in-law's muggle wedding. Sophie had to hide a smile; she had heard the story many times and knew her dad had filtered most of it out.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were all clustered together, with Ron's twin brothers joining in on their conversation. Sophie was left to try to force conversation with Ginny. Despite Ron's complaints that Ginny normally never shut up, the older girl barely spoke a word. Sophie soon gave up and joined Sirius instead.
Sophie carefully packed all her purchases into her trunk later that evening. She must have packed and repacked several times over the summer, excited at the prospect of finally going to Hogwarts. Of course, within days she'd remember she had packed something she wanted to use or clothing she still wanted to wear and the contents of the trunk would end up everywhere. Artemis' ears perked up as the doorknob twisted. He leapt off her bed and dashed between Harry's legs before Harry could react.
"Sorry! I forgot you had him."
"It's okay," Sophie sighed. She had to chase him earlier for the same reason.
Sophie ran out into the corridor, looking for her cat. "Artemis?" she whispered. "Here kitty."
Maybe she should just let him wander, the shop clerk said he'd come back in the morning anyway. Sophie made a face; she really hoped he didn't bring her a prize.
Sophie was halfway down the stairs when she heard a pair of hushed voices in the hallway downstairs. She froze in her tracks when she noticed one of them was Sirius. Not wanting to be caught out of bed, she paused in her steps, ducking to hide behind the banisters in the dark stairwell.
"James," she overheard Sirius. He sounded so hesitant, so forlorn. Whatever he was telling her Dad, it looked to be bad news. "The ministry's making budget cuts in the departments, I'm so sorry – they're going to close the Peter Pettigrew case."
"No!" Sophie had rarely heard her dad so angry. His fist hit the wall and Sophie jumped in surprise. "Damnit."
"It's been seven years." Sirius whispered. "I haven't had any leads since he disappeared. Amelia said Fudge wants to close all the old death eater files and declare it wrapped up to the public."
Sophie was a bit surprised at the language James used to describe the ministry. Sirius laughed darkly, as if in agreement. She felt a chill go up her spine at the sound.
"Would it be too much to hope he died in a sewer?" Sophie shivered at the hatred in her dad's voice. She wondered just who Peter Pettigrew was and what he had done. Sirius was an auror who spent most of his time catching dark wizards and tracking down old death eaters. If he was after Pettigrew, than he must have done something bad.
"I hope the stupid rat bastard did too."
Secretly, she decided that she hoped so too. If she were honest, Sophie was petrified of dark wizards coming after her and her family. Her brother had been named the boy-who-lived the night her mum died. A dark wizard, called you-know-who by the terrified population, had shown up at their house and killed her mum, but when he turned his wand on Harry, the curse rebounded and Harry survived while you-know-who did not. It had made Harry, and by extension their family, famous and a target for a lot of angry death eaters over the next two years. By then, most of them were dead or in the wizards' prison. The news that there were still some out there, being able to walk free, was terrifying.
"Sophie?" Sophie jumped, startled out of her thoughts. Sirius was standing in front of her on the stairwell. "I thought you were in your room."
"I was just looking for Artemis."
Sirius sat down next to her on one of the steps and wrapped an arm around her. Sophie leaned into him and let him rest his chin on top of her head. "I wish you hadn't overheard that. But since you did – is there anything you'd like to know?"
Sirius probably sugar-coated a lot of what he told her, but Sophie knew he'd be honest with her.
"This Peter Pettigrew, he was one of You-Know-Who's supporters? And he's still out there?"
Sirius seemed in thought before he nodded. "But you don't have to worry about him, Love. Leave that to me."
Sophie didn't mention that Pettigrew's case was being closed and would be left to nobody. She had to trust that if he ever resurfaced, Sirius would put him in Azkaban so he couldn't hurt anyone else. "Is he dangerous?"
"Yes, but I'll never let him near you." She could feel Sirius' arm tighten protectively around her. "Now, I imagine you have a long day tomorrow, so why don't you try to get some sleep?"
He stood up and offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet.
"G'night Siri." She said, using the old childish nickname they used to call him.
"Good night, Princess."