They lied to me! Tricked me! Deceived me! They used me! Liars! Traitors! Betrayers! OATH-BREAKERS!
Harry Potter picked up the silver picture frame from the floor, he had knocked it over by accident while looking for his wand holster. It showed a happy family of four. A beautiful woman with hair the color of rubies ad eyes the color of emeralds was cuddling with two small children on a burgundy couch while a black haired man leaned over the back of the couch. The man had warm golden-brown eyes and laughed as the small boy escaped the tickling fingers of the ruby-haired woman to try and reach his glasses. Harry smiled sadly at the picture, it had been taken a few days before the world of the Potter family, his family, was torn apart. Lily, the woman with the bright red hair, and James Potter, the bespectacled man, were both dead at the hand of Voldemort while he, Harry, had survived. That very night, his younger twin went missing, her body hadn't been found. There was an empty bed in the girl's dormitory for her, one that would probably remain unused for much longer. Sofia.
"I look like my Great-Aunt Muriel! I even smell like her!"
Harry was shaken out of his musing by the comment from one of his best friends. Ron Weasley was standing in front of the mirror, wearing dress robes that looked as if they were unearthed from the tomb of an ancient wizard in dire need of some fashion sense. The robes themselves were a dusty maroon (a color that Ron hated vehemently) with every possible corner and edge draped by lace.
"I think you smell like that troll we met in first year." Harry sat on the edge of his bed as he laughed.
"Not funny Harry, not funny." Ron attempted to glare at him through the mirror but failed and ended up laughing. "Do you remember that spell for changing clothes?" Ron asked when he was sure that he wasn't going to end up in a laughing fit.
"Yeah. No lace, obviously, but what color do you want?"
Harry waved his holly wand and the horrid lace disappeared.
"I dunno." He glanced at his friend's emerald green robes trimmed in black. Ron was still deep in thought, contemplating colors when his robes suddenly changed. They were a rich, mahogany brown shot through with strands of bright, ivy green. They were edged in gold and had the Weasley Crest embroidered on them. Harry had most definitely not had transfigured his robes. "You-when did-but-"
"Never underestimate my scheming. Think of it as a thank you for taking me to the World Cup during the summer. But you're not getting anymore gifts for ten years."
Ron couldn't help but smile, Harry was an idiot, a kind, caring, loving and generous idiot; but an idiot nonetheless. He always said that anytime he spent more than 5 Galleons on Ron or any of the other Weasleys.
"You do know that you're an honorary member of the Weasley Clan, oh! That reminds me, Mum added Hermione to the Clock."
"W-what?" Spluttered his adoptive brother who looked suspiciously like a fish with his gaping mouth, Ron quickly took out a camera and took a few pictures that would be used to savor this moment.
"Someone told her that you're going to the Yule Ball with Hermione."
Running. She had to keep running. Jump. Duck. Avoid. Run. She knew they were chasing her. They knew that she knew. She heard the soft 'twang' of an arrow be released and acted on instinct. Changing course, she ran to the South. The Phoenix on her glowed and she blocked the arrows. With an arcing motion of her hand, fire sprung up around and cut them off from her. With the smoke she disappeared. But not for long, they would search until she was somewhere safe. Somewhere they could not touch her. But where?
Harry stood waiting in front of the doors to the Great Hall. All the other students were inside, except for the Champions and their dates. He smiled at Hermione, she was beautiful. His breath had disappeared when he saw coming down the stairs and he couldn't believe how lucky he was that she had said yes. This had to be one of the luckiest days of his life! He was actually happy that the Tri-Wizard Tournament was going on (Which, in his opinion, if a tournament is discontinued due to safety reasons and you re-install the tournament, shouldn't the tasks be a bit safer? And shouldn't they not involve retrieving an egg from a highly pissed off dragon?) for the first time since he had been chosen!
Snow. Cold. Ice. Pain. But she was safe. Somewhere she would be safe. Her eyes closed and her breaths came in ragged gasps. She knew this feeling, this smell, this touch; she had caused it to happen to too many, did she not? But she would NOT yield. She would NOT die! Somewhere, she heard a scream and she opened her eyes. Ice. Eyes the color of wondrous ice, such eyes could not exist. She reached a hand to the face that was surely a statue, and felt warmth underneath her bloody fingers. A whisper reached her ears, "Don't go to sleep. Help is coming." Safe. Her instinct had been right. She was somewhere safe.
Safe? Was there any such thing as a place that was safe for her? Not since that Halloween. No. Nowhere could be safe. Then why did she come here? She felt Magic surround her, cradle her in the air, whispering softly to her that it was alright for her to sleep, her wounds would be healed and when she woke, she would no longer be alone.
Near midnight, a scream had been heard from the direction of the gardens and a fourth-year Puff came into the Hall, crying about a girl covered in blood who was in the snow. Unsurprisingly, Madam Pompfrey was the first to follow the girl, and then Professors Dumbledore, Snape and Flitwick. When they returned, a girl was on a stretcher that floated gently through the air while Madam Pompfrey kept a swift watch on her. Everyone could see the blood, what was not covered in blood?
The Yule Ball was cancelled. Unsurprisingly. No one could continue making merry after having seen that. And for some reason, Harry sat down on the steps that led to the Great Hall, thinking about the girl that had been found. He was worried about her, he as if he knew her. But he didn't. Her hair had been silvery white.
A girl was lying on the floor. Blood seeped from the wound on her neck. Dying. She was dying. The blood soaked through her dress, dying the ruffles and roses a shade of red so deep and so startling that it would forever stay present in whoever was present to see such a tint. Her black hair was splayed out and slowly, slowly it turned to a silvery white and the eyes that had been green changed to a violet flecked with red.
Poppy stopped in her work and turned to her colleagues. "I need your help in casting the Sedmorsvicina."
Minerva stepped forward at the same time as Severus and Filius. She smiled smugly and spoke. "I think we have the four necessary." The teachers that were not busy strengthening the wards alongside Albus or dealing with shocked students nodded silently, remaining there so as to provide for support for the ritual about to be cast.
Severus stood to the North of the girl. Filius to the East. Minerva to the West and Poppy to the South. Together, they spoke. "Nullam a morte. Nullam a periculo. Nullam noxa. Nullam a arcu. Sed mors vicina. Donec a vicina morte. Sit in vita remanebit, puerum istum. Sic fiat!"
"This isn't possible! There are no female-"
"Yet she wears the clothing of one! Look! She is no low-ranking peon!"
She woke to the incessant chatter of people arguing as to why someone could not be something because of that someone's gender. Idiotic. Yet she saw no need to clutch at her sai, she saw no need to build up power to fight her way out. Strange. Then, she remembered the words that the Magic had spoken to her. Ah. I'm somewhere 'safe'.
"Where am I?"
An elderly man with incessantly twinkling eyes asked in a kind and caring voice, "Who are you child?"
"Who am I? That is equal to asking what is Life and what is Death? That is as if you asked what was the name of the night? Who am I? I don't know, not anymore at least."
That gave the twinkling old man pause, she had spoken the truth, and she saw no need to lie. But her words did not deter him.
"Then, what was the last name you responded to?"
"Alice."
"Your name is Alice from now on. You will have another name as well, but that will be chosen depending on your strengths and your…personality."
She nodded at him, eager to please.
"My name is Alice."
"She is strong. She may have more than one name."
"Yes, she is, isn't she? How thrilling."
"I was thinking Blood Rain for the first."
"It does fit her."
"How is this possible! She's just a child! How did those Tattoos accept her?"
"Are you sure? All of them?"
"I saw them with my own eyes. A Turtle, a Phoenix, a Tiger, and a Dragon that is all Three."
"Blood Rain."
"Night Shadow."
"La Mort Argeente."
"La Mort Vert."
"La Mort Vermeil."
"Well, Miss Alice, can you tell u show you came to be found on Hogwart's grounds nearly dead?"
"I was running; running from the people that raised me as their own, running from the people that raised me, running from the people that betrayed me, running from the people who chased me."
"And who are these people?"
A pair of Killing Curse green eyes turned to look at the old man.
"The Assasins."
Albus left the girl's mind. He had been gentle, and it was all with her permission, yet it was a harrowing and enlightening experience. All he saw at first were bodies of the dead littered in a field. People of all ages, race, gender, magical or non-magical. Humans, wizards, goblins, werewolves, vampires. All dead. Alice stood in the center of the field, watching the wind blow across the dead. He meet her emotionless eyes, so different from what he had seen from the outside, and followed her through her memories. He saw the horrors she lived through, and then he came to a library. She brought him to a table with a book that was empty.
"I cannot access these memories. They are the ones of my family. My life before the Assasins."
He was able to heal a part of her broken mind and soul.
She was Sofia Potter.
Author's Note: The plot bunnies were bothing me to write this. It's a one-shot for now, but I might continue it. What do you guys think?
It's set during the Goblet of Fire on the night of the Yule. Harry has a younger twin who went missing that Halloween when Voldemort attacked. Everything pretty much follows canon except for the fact that he knows that he has younger sister who's missing. Said sister turns up nearly dead.
Can anyone guess who was the one to find Sofia/Alice in the snow?