"Huzzah, sister of mine!" Deron Dursley pounded his slender sister's back, giggling. He was only eight while the girl, Ash Dursley, was eleven. She tumbled onto the floor, amber eyes wide. Instead of falling face flat, her hands slapped the ground in a practiced gesture, stopping any odd bruising. "I forgot. You're not my sister, Ash. You're adopted. You were left here."

Ash held out her hands in front of her face while Deron readied his baton to slap her. Someone grabbed the baton from him at that moment and helped the girl up. "Deron, what did I say about hurting your sister?" A sharp, cold voice demanded. She was thin and mulish, like her mother-in-law while Dudley Dursley looked just like his father, the difference varying in their personalities. Their father stood beside his wife Tanya. He had his arms over his chest, frowning at their third youngest son. Their oldest son was Benjamin and in the ninth grade, Jane, their second oldest and eldest daughter was in the eighth grade. There was Jimmy in the seventh grade and Sheryl in the third grade. Deron and Ash were in between the four of them.

"It's okay Ash darling." Tanya murmured, picking up the young girl.

It was true; Ash had been left standing on their doorstep with a bundle of clothes in her arms and a pouch of euros. There was no letter and Dudley had a strong sense of deja vu. It was exactly how it had been with Harry, beside the fact that Ash had been nine. She also had her memory swiped from her. The two fathers had talked about Ash quietly in rooms without the girl in there. She showed signs of magic and Dudley didn't exactly want her there, yet he loved her as if she were his own child. Harry, sympathetic, said that she could stay with his family when the time came. They had made an agreement.

"We need to talk." Dudley said tersely, pulling Ash with him out of the room.

"Ha, ha! They're kicking you out!" Deron yelled, throwing a block at his father.

"Deron Dudley Junior Dursley!" Tanya screeched. "Go to your room this instant! When I come up there, you will tell me what you did wrong."

Deron murmured a cry and ran out of the room. They heard him stomp his way up the stairs and the slam to his bedroom.

In the dining room or the family conference room as the Dursley children called it, Dudley sat at the head of the table, head in his hands. "Ash, dear," he said softly.

"Why isn't mommy here?" Ash demanded to know.

"Because mommy doesn't know what Harry and I know." He cleared his throat.

Her uncle Harry stepped out of the shadows, smiling grimly at Ash. "Ash," he greeted, taking a seat beside Dudley on his left.

Ash tilted her head to the side, amber eyes wide. "Deron was right, wasn't he?" She whispered. "You're sending me away. You don't want me here." Tears tumbled out of her eyes. She rubbed them away angrily, glaring at both her uncle and father. "Send me to an orphanage then!" Ash held her head up high, arms folded over her chest.

Dudley didn't even look up. He just stared at the mahogany table, muttering to himself. Harry took charge, glancing at Ash. "You're a witch." He said slowly. "You know you are. Remember when you made the cards fly out of James's hands?"

A smile played on the little girl's face. She remembered that day. Her obnoxious cousin had taunted her, showing off his skills as a deck-master and she had glared at him angrily. The cards were knocked from his hands, flying into his face. Quickly, she remembered to frown from anger. "So?" She said with indifference.

Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead, his hand grazing across his scar. "Magical things happen to witches." He explained slowly. "With what had happened; your memory being wiped from you and no one knowing a thing about you, it's only reasonable that you are a witch. If you are a muggle-born, half-blood or pure-blood, I do not know."

"What is muggle, half and pure blood?" Ash asked, interest spiking inside her. The words were so... magical.

"Witch power from both sides, from one side and then having mundane parents." Harry explained patiently. "You have also gotten a letter from Hogwarts, the best school in all of England. It has accepted you, a school for witch and wizard alike, from the ages eleven to seventeen or eighteen. Of course, there are more wizarding schools, but the closest school always chooses the closest children in their wake. And one student for Hogwarts is you."

"Oh, I get it now." Ash nodded, understanding in her eyes. "There's me, an unknown background, witchery in my veins and I've been accepted." Realization hit her slowly. "So I am a witch." Excitement bubbled inside her. "Then I can find my real parents?" Quickly, she faced Dudley. "Daddy, it's not meant to offend you but-"

Dudley nodded, smiling faintly. "I understand." He said quietly. Her father stood up. "Will you go with your uncle? He will get all of the items you shall need and take you to... Hogwarts."

Ash nodded eagerly as Harry handed her a thick parchment. She beamed as she read the letter. "Oh Daddy, I'm so happy!" Her eyes seemed to shine a more yellow color instead of red. She wrapped her arms around her pudgy father's neck, squeezing him with excitement. "Do I start packing now?" Dudley held onto her arm, nodding with a sigh.

"Thank you Harry," Dudley said, gratitude in both his eyes and tone.

Harry grinned. He would never be used to Dudley thanking him. "What are cousins for?" He asked in a light teasing tone.