Summary: Harry learns that to protect his sister, it's sometimes better to let go. But how can Harry protect her when she befriends Draco Malfoy and becomes the daughter of Severus Snape? Join both Harry and Alexandria Potter throughout their first year at Hogwarts where the truth is discovered and war has began.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
THE RED IN THE STONE
Chapter One
Blood slowly dripped down from his hands. He wiped them on his pants and glanced around. It was morning, so the light did nothing to hide the stains on his pants. He shivered involuntary. He still was in shock of what had happened approximately ten hours ago to both him and his sister. Unconsciously, he clenched his hands in the form of fists and looked down at his sisters sleeping form. He needed to protect her, that was the only thing keeping him alive. She couldn't die on him.
So with great difficulties, he unbuttoned the last remaining buttons on his shirt. Carefully, he draped it across his sister and watched as his sister tried to snuggle deeper into the little warmth it provided. How he wished for more clothes or blankets. Her skin was awfully pale and made the blood covering nearly every inch of her body stand out. He thought it was sickening, but then remembered he also looked like her. Only shirtless.
Gently, as though not to wake her, he bent down and brushed her long, black hair from her face. She was beautiful, he couldn't deny. When she was awake, her vibrant green eyes shined brightly. Her long, black hair framed her face and stopped mid-back. But what he loved most about his sister was her personality. She was caring and kind; often sacrificing her own comfort for his. She has a temper, but just like him, it was easily restrained. In some peoples eyes, she was an angel. Capable of doing nothing wrong. But to their only living relatives, she was scum. A freak. A possession.
But he knew better. He knew his relatives weren't nice people. They didn't care for them, especially her. He often wondered why he was treated differently from his sister. Why she always ended up worse than what he did. He felt angry whenever he was forced to watch or wait. Where were the normal punishments? Why hadn't anyone noticed how unhappy they were? The scars? The blood?
It was almost surreal. He gazed at his hands, and then to his bare chest. Were people oblivious to their own bodies, let alone, a child's? He shuddered. It was no good for him to dwell on such matters. Instead, he listened. He listened to his sisters uneven breathing and to the footsteps on the stairs which were loud and heavy. He gulped before crouching down beside hid sisters sleeping form and shook her shoulder urgently, but somewhat gently.
"Alex, you need to get up!" She didn't budge, but continued to snore softly. "Wake up, Alexandria! This isn't time for a sleep in, you really need to get up! Vernon is almost-"
But he didn't have time to finish. The door slammed open and Alexandria bolted upright. Uncle Vernon glared towards Alexandria, and smirked when his eyes came across her brother. Without making it obvious, Vernon threw a bottle of shampoo towards him. He growled, however, when he young boy caught it on instinct. He knew he should have thrown it towards the girl.
"You have fifteen minutes, do you hear me?" Vernon said, as he glared towards the both of them. "If you are not showered and dressed by then, tough luck. You'll head to your new school dressed as you are now, you pathetic freaks. Now come on, get off your arses and start moving!"
Without saying another word, he left. Down the old wooden stairs and presumably towards the kitchen where breakfast was surely to be ready. Fresh and warm out of the oven. Their door was left opened wide and the aroma of bacon and eggs slowly creped into their room.
"Harry, how long have you been trying to wake me?" Alexandria asked as she looked down at the blood stained shirt which was crumpled on her lap, and then towards her brothers bare chest. "And why do I have your shirt? You must be freezing!"
Harry shrugged his shoulders and got back to his feet. He offered his hand to his sister who gratefully accepted. "Not long. I just started to wake you when Vernon slammed open the door...," He helped Alexandria to her feet. "...I'm surprised the door hasn't fallen of it's hinges yet."
Alexandria chuckled. Her muscles felt stiff like cardboard and no matter how much she tried to move, the pain would not disappear. It radiated down from her spine to her legs and then back up again. Looking at herself, Alexandria's eyes widened at the amount of blood. Nearly every part of her was covered in the red, sticky substance. Her hands, her arms, her chest, her stomach, her thighs and her legs. She, however, could not identify what instrument had caused such a variety of different shapes and patterns.
"What did he use?" She said softly, as they walked slowly over to the door. His hand never leaving hers. "I feel as though I've been turned into a piece of cardboard. My muscles won't stop aching."
Tightening his hold on her hand, Harry sighed. "All I remember was Vernon's fists and his belt. I think I might have lost consciousness when he hit me over the head with something."
Walking over to the bathroom was not a long journey. Harry, however, stopped abruptly when his sister went to push open the wooden door. Whilst ignoring his sister's curious look, Harry let go of his sisters hand and folded his arms across his chest. He then handed over the shampoo bottle before leaning against the railing of the staircase. "You can use the shower first, you need it more than I do."
Alexandria sighed. "Harry, we have probably ten minutes before Vernon will shove us into his car. Do you honestly expect for us to be able to both have a shower and get ready if we go in one at a time? This isn't the first time this has happened, and it probably won't be the last time I have to have this conversation with you. So get over your embarrassment and come on! I promise you that I shall keep my undergarments on, alright?"
Harry blushed. After a few moments of hesitation, Harry followed suit and shut the door behind him. The bathroom was just like he remembered it to be. White. Clean. Nothing out of place. He also noticed that his sister had already placed the towels on the edge of the bath when she had spotted the mirror. Harry looked at her worriedly when she didn't peel her eyes away from her reflection straight away.
After deciding to give her a moment, Harry turned on the taps of the shower before lightly tapping on Alexandria's shoulder about a minute later. "You can't keep staring at your own reflection, it's unhealthy and a bit creepy."
Taking of his shorts, Harry remained in his boxers before stepping into the shower; trying not to cry as the water made contact with his skin. He, however, couldn't help but noticed how relaxed his muscles felt with the heat. Alexandria, on the other hand, didn't appreciate the heat of the water after she finally undressed (apart from her undergarments) and joined her brother in the shower.
"Can you turn the heat down a bit?" She asked, as Harry was the closest to the taps. "I don't know how you can enjoy this. The water is practically scolding!"
Rolling his eyes, Harry adjusted the temperature of the water. He then grabbed the shampoo bottle and squirted a decent amount onto his palm before instructing his sister to turn the other way. When she did as what she was told, Harry placed his hands on her scalp and began messaging the shampoo into her hair. He finally felt her begin to relax as she grabbed the nearest wash cloth and began wiping away all traces of blood on her body.
Once Harry was finished, he covered her eyes and placed her head back under the water to wash away the shampoo. He gently ran his fingers through her long hair to untangle it, nodding in satisfaction when he could no longer find any nots. "You can turn around now, I've finished with your hair."
"Thanks Harry," Alexandria said, as she sighed contently. "I'm afraid this is the only wash cloth in here. Do you want me to get out and grab you another, or are you perfectly fine with using this one?"
Shaking his head, Harry took the wash cloth from her hands and rinsed it out with water. "I think they purposely only left one in here so we would have to share. I think they probably think were sick for taking a shower together even though were brother and sister and have a time restriction."
"What makes you think that?" Alexandria asked, as she washed her face before grabbing the soap and washing the grime of her hands. "Is it uncommon for siblings who are stuck living under unbearable conditions to take a shower together, still clothed, when circumstances acquire it?"
"Siblings aren't meant to take shower's together, some people think its wrong and inappropriate," Harry admitted, as he washed away more blood, ignoring his sisters startled look. "I overheard Petunia and Vernon talking to one of their friends about how 'disgusting' we are. They mentioned that we were abnormally close and choose to do everything together."
Alexandria stopped scrubbing. "T-They told people that w-were …?"
"Yeah," Harry said, as he turned off the taps and stepped out of the shower; handing Alexandria a towel as he also reached for his own. His mood suddenly turning dangerous. "People are idiots! None of them even notice that we hate it here, we hate our relatives, and how the treat us! If only I could just fight back without them hurting you! People like them shouldn't even be allowed on this world!"
Buttoning up his shirt, Harry punched the wall and took a few deep breaths. "I wish they would die..."
"Harry!" Alexandria gasped, just as she finished dressing. "Don't say that! I understand that you feel as though they deserve to die, but don't you think that is a bit harsh? What they have done to us isn't right, nor should they be allowed to get away with it, but death? How do you think mum would feel to know you think so poorly of her sister? She has never once laid a hand on us!"
"But she never stopped it either!" Harry snapped, as he threw his towel into the laundry hamper and putting on his shoes. "How can you defend them, Alex? Why would you want to defend them?"
Alexandria sighed before grabbing a brush and running it through her hair, pretending as though his questions didn't hurt. "Maybe she couldn't? You constantly go on about our Uncle treating us like animals, but how does he treat her? She might be scared of him, she might be trying to protect Dudley. Have you ever once seen Uncle Vernon saying how much he loves her, or showing any signs of affection?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Harry asked, as he narrowed his eyes.
She sighed. "I'm not going to argue with you, Harry," She said, as she began walking towards the door. "Come on, we better get going. I think I can hear Uncle beginning to walk up the stairs."
Harry followed without a word. His hands clenched into fists at his side. As he followed his sister down the stairs, he noticed her stiff posture and the shaking of her hands. Not caring that he was irritated with her, Harry once again grasped her hand and began rubbing soothing circles on her palm with his thumb. Alexandria turned and smiled slightly, before looking up ahead to where there Uncle was standing with his keys,
"Get in the car, and don't you dare touch anything apart from the seatbelt!" Uncle Vernon snapped, as they both hurried down the stairs. His face going more and more red with every word he spoke. "I hope you made sure to clean up the bathroom, or your going to be sorry."
Luckily for Alexandria and Harry, the train station wasn't too far away from Privet Drive. The car ride was silent apart from Uncle Vernon's mumbling. Neither brother and sister dared to open their mouth, even if Alexandria wanted to thank him for allowing them to have a shower and providing each of them with one of Dudley's old jackets. When they arrived, Vernon shoved two pieces of paper towards them. Harry took it with slight hesitation.
"Get out of my car, you worthless freaks. Don't even bother coming home for Christmas," Uncle Vernon said, as he turned his head and glared at the two. "And if you dare tell anybody, I will know."
Nodding their heads, they both quickly scrambled out of the car. Uncle Vernon didn't even hesitate and drove off back in the direction they came. Sighing, Harry looked at the paper which looked to be some sort of train ticket. Grabbing his sisters hand, they walked until they reached the main platform and began searching for platform nine and three quarters. However, when they reached platform nine, they stopped. Their platform was no where in plain site.
"Did he just leave us here?" Alexandria asked softly, as she moved closer to her brother; suddenly wary of all these people. "What are we supposed to do? There is no such platform!"
"I don't know Alex," Harry admitted honestly. "Did he even say where we were headed? Surely someone here must know."
Alexandria thought for a moment. "No, neither Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon mentioned where we were headed. But Harry, what if the intends to just leave us here? As you've seen for yourself there is no platform nine and three quarters. He must have forged the tickets or something. How could he just abandon us?"
Harry looked around. That was when the spotted them. A plump woman, four boys, and one girl, all with flaming red hair. They were talking loudly amongst each other and Harry listened as the youngest girl answered her mothers question. "Platform nine and three quarters! It should be around here somewhere."
Nudging his sister, Harry pointed discretely towards the large family. "Lets ask them, they look friendly enough." And Harry was right. When Harry finally managed to convince his sister, they approached the plump woman. "Excuse me, but do you know how to get to platform nine and three quarters? I, ah, kind of overheard your daughter mentioning it and thought you could give us some directions."
"Hello, dear," She said, while smiling towards the pair. "First time at Hogwarts? Well don't worry, we don't mind helping at all. You see, Ron...," She pointed towards the youngest of her sons. "...is attending his first year, too. But I am concerned, where is your luggage?"
Harry looked towards Alexandria. Alexandria sighed. "Sorry ma'am, but luggage? Our Uncle never told us we had to bring anything, he just took us here and handed us over the tickets."
The plump woman frowned. "What is your name? I'm Molly Weasley, and these are my children Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny."
"My name is Alexandria Potter, and this is my brother...," Alexandria pointed towards Harry. "...Harry Potter. It's nice to meet both you and your family, ma'am."
The children gasped and began whispering excitedly. It wasn't until Molly noticed both Harry's and Alexandria's confused and startled looks that she told her children to be quiet; taking a step towards both Potter's as she done so. "Sorry dears, I know you must be scared but I'm going to have to make you go through the barrier first. One of your Professor's will be waiting for you on the other side."
Both Harry and Alexandria nodded before Harry spoke. "What barrier?"
Molly smiled, and pointed towards the brick wall in between platform nine and then. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between those two platforms. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it a bit of a run if your nervous. Go on, we shall see you shortly."
"Excuse me, but what?" Alexandria asked, with wide eyes. "Run into the brick wall? I'm sorry, but are you sure? I don't mean to be rude or anything but running into a brick wall to get to a platform seems a bit absurd. Don't you agree, Harry?"
Harry nodded his head, but was amazed when Molly instructed the eldest Weasley to demonstrate. Soon enough, the eldest hit the brick wall and disappeared. Alexandria was shocked and ignored the chuckles from the other Weasley children. "Harry, am I dreaming? Please tell me I am just dreaming."
He chuckled and pulled her over so they were standing approximately five metres away from the brick wall. Tightening his hold, Harry looked over towards Molly who gave him an encouraging nod. Sighing, Harry began to jog with his sister following. Soon enough, when they both thought they were going to crash, they opened their eyes and found themselves standing on a populated platform. A scarlet steam engine waiting for people to board.
Smoke drifted from the engine over the heads of the chattering crowd, whilst a variety of different animals wound here and there between people's legs. Taking a few steps forward, Harry was just about to turn and wait for the other Weasley's when a man with shoulder length black hair, a crooked nose, and black robes stepped in front of them. A stern expression on his pale face.
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