Chapter 1
"Oh bloody hell…" Harriet sighed as she noticed the emptiness under her bed. "Looks like I'll need to sneak more food in."
"Harriet! Get down here now!" She sighed as she heard her adoptive mother call her. She got up from the floor and rushed downstairs into the kitchen.
"Yes?" She tried her best to keep any annoyance out of her voice, so it sounded a bit of a mixture between pain and politeness.
"You didn't do the dishes like you were told! Hurry up before my parents come!" Tina Yagle, a rather stern looking red head pointed to the kitchen sink as she glared at Harriet. Harriet sighed quietly as she stood in front of the sink and put on some gloves.
'Sometimes, I wish there was a way I could blow her head off or something.' She thought bitterly as she got out the soap.
10 minutes later and Harriet was just in the middle of taking off her gloves when the doorbell rang.
"Harriet, door!" Tina called loudly from the living room where she and her daughter were sitting. Harriet sighed, throwing away the gloves before walking down the hall and towards the front door. She opened it and saw three adults, two of them being much older than the other and the younger one carrying a small baby girl.
She said nothing as she side-stepped to let them in, and the older woman simply tossed some bags into Harriet's arms, almost causing her to fall. As they all walked in, the baby in the younger woman's arms stared at her blankly.
"Ah, mother, you're here! And you brought Molly with you also!" Tina gushed as she spotted her parents and her sister walk in. Molly, also a red head, smiled and handed the baby to her mother as she gave a hug to Tina.
"Hello Tina, good to see you again. I brought little Jessica with me today." Molly motioned towards her baby daughter and watched as Tina smiled brightly at the baby and started tickling her, successfully earning baby giggles.
Harriet sighed as she set the bags down next to the stairs, rubbing her sore arms and watching tiredly as her adoptive mother gushed over the baby. She was by no means jealous, actually, she would be a bit disturbed if Tina started doing that to her, she was just annoyed by the scene since she wanted nothing more than to take some food and lock herself in her room for a good week or so.
"You there, pour little Jessica some juice." Molly snapped her fingers at Harriet, who said nothing and went into the kitchen to get a small cup for the baby. Even though the baby was related to someone so evil and cruel, she still had to admit it was a rather adorable child.
She poured some apple juice into a small blue cup, stuck a straw in it and came back to the living room where everyone was seating. She saw the baby sitting on the floor and gently handed her the cup, giving her a soft smile. The baby simply stared, the giggling before long gone now. She then sneezed on Harriet, causing her to flinch back and away from the baby.
All the mother did was laugh.
Harriet sighed, went back into the kitchen for God knows how many times and grabbed a tissue before wiping her face. She leaned on the counter, silently watching the adults chatter since she knew she wasn't allowed to go back upstairs just yet.
Lulu, Tina's daughter who was 11, one year older than Harriet (though Harriet turned 11 tomorrow) came into the kitchen and Harriet visibly relaxed. Out of everyone in her adoptive family, Lulu probably treated her the best. Though that doesn't mean she still didn't tease her, but it was more in a friendly way than anything.
"Having fun?" She asked her sarcastically. Harriet snorted.
"Oh yes, better than a roller coaster." She threw her hands up in the air, tissue still in hand. "Wheeeeee." Lulu smirked, amused at her step-sisters dry excitement.
"Glad someone's having fun," She crossed her arms as she leaned on the counter also, watching the others converse, "whenever grandmother and grandfather come to visit, it's always so dull, especially with auntie Molly here. Cuz wherever Molly goes, Jessica follows, and everything has to be safer with Jessica around, so I can't really do much. The only thing that makes something exciting when they visit, is when they bring presents, but that's only on my birthday or Christmas." She finished her rant, making sure to whisper so no one else but Harriet would here her. Harriet just smiled, finding yet another reason to be happy why these people aren't her real family.
"Total nutters they were, those Pockets." Harriet froze, turning her head towards the conversation that was taking place. Molly was holding Jessica, bouncing her on her leg as she spoke to her family. "Father gets murdered, that doesn't mean that the mother has to kill herself." Harriet knew instantly that she was talking about her parents, both of who died only when she was little.
Tina looked a bit uncomfortable, casting glances at Harriet. Harriet knew that she wasn't worried about her; she was just worried that Harriet would go and do something stupid in front of her parents and sister. Lulu, however, actually was worried about her and sent a curious yet worried glance at her.
"Ah yes, the Pockets. Strange people those two, and I bet the offspring of those would be just horrible." Harriet was pretty sure that the grandmother knew that she was the daughter of Michael and Louis Pocket, considering that she sent a nasty glance at Harriet.
Her hand tightened on the tissue that she still held, not caring that she got left over baby snot on her fingers.
"Right, everyone knows that the pup always follows after the bitch." That was taking it too far.
"And just what bitch are you talking about? Yourself or your mother?" Harriet finally spoke up, her voice harsh and cold as she glared at the grandmother and Molly. The grandfather was sitting their quietly the whole time, doing nothing but reading the newspaper, and Tina was fidgeting in her chair.
Everyone within hearing distance froze and looked at her, some looking shocked and others offended. Lulu seemed to be the only amused one while Jessica just let her eyes wonder around the room, not knowing about the situation.
If she wasn't as angry as she was, Harriet herself would be shocked also. She never cursed before, but she knew almost all of the words. She never thought about using them though, and this one just sort of came out.
"What was that young lady?" Molly asked, seizing her leg from bouncing and tightening her hold on her baby as she glared at Harriet.
"You have no right to talk about my parents like that. You barely even knew them, so stop talking rubbish about them and instead try to find better ways to take care of your own child. Hopefully she won't grow up to be a total bitch like you or your mother, and actually have some common sense." Harriet kept spewing out things that popped into her head, no longer having any control over her patience. As her voice grew louder in her anger, the lights started to flicker and shake, almost as if there was an earthquake.
Lulu's amusement turned into worriment as she carefully looked around at the shaking lights. Tina also looked scared, along with her parents and sister. Harriet continued to glare at Molly and the grandmother.
"How would you feel if your husband died? Mortified, right? So try putting yourself in my mother's shoes and try to tell me you wouldn't want to kill yourself also." Finally, one of the light bulbs in the kitchen lights popped, causing the others in the room to jump.
"Um, Tina darling, I think it's about time we go now." Tina's mother said as she stood up hastily. Molly and her father quickly followed, Jessica still in Molly's arms. Tina stood up also, looking at them desperately.
"Oh no, but you just got here. The shaking is just a normal side effect on the house; we can easily replace the lights! Don't go yet, we have much to discuss!" She tried to sound cheery as she followed them to the front door, trying to stop them from leaving. It was no use; her mother grabbed the bags again and her father quickly opened the door and led the way out.
"We'll come by another time, maybe when… the kids are in college." The mother stuttered before closing the door behind her. The shaking long stopped now, and once the door closed, the house was completely silent.
"I think you went a bit overboard." Lulu whispered to Harriet quietly as her mother stood with their back to them, still facing the closed door.
"Yeah… bye!" Harriet quickly made a mad dash towards the stairs, quickly throwing the tissue in the bin on her way, but was stopped when a hand grabbed her left arm.
"Not so fast." She flinched at the sound of Tina's voice and slowly turned around to see her adoptive mother staring at her harshly.
Lulu sighed, knowing what was about to come.
"Just what did you think you were doing! You scared away my family, and now they'll probably never visit again! Sometimes I wonder why I ever even took you away from the orphanage! I think it'd be best if I left you out on the streets to starve rather than giving you a roof over your head and food! You'll be getting no dinner tonight, young lady, and you'll be sleeping in the basement also! Off with you now, go on!" She pointed down the stairs that led to the basement, which had only a small beaten mattress and no blankets.
Lulu winced as she saw Harriet's expression, which was a mixture of sadness and anger. She made a small note to herself to sneak down into the basement later that night and bring her something to eat, along with a small early birthday present.
Later, at 11:55 at night:
Harriet sighed as she lay on the mattress, staring at the cold cement ceiling and spider webs that lay near the corners. She checked her watch that she managed to buy at a dollar store and read the time.
5 more minutes, she thought, did Tina even bother to remember my birthday? Lulu's probably the only one who knows… her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Harriet?" She sat up at the sound of her step-sister's whispered voice. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah, what are you doing here Lulu?" She asked as Lulu finally came down the stairs and made her way towards the mattress. She sat down, hiding something behind her back.
"That's a pretty stupid question." She snorted, but didn't let Harriet say anything as she pushed a plate into her hands. Harriet blinked down at the cupcake, which was decorated with white frosting and had the letters 'H.P' on them with a small heart underneath.
"A… cupcake?"
"Yep, I was up late last night making it, and I hid it in the back of the fridge so my mother wouldn't see it. I was going to make a cake, but then I realized that would be pretty hard to hide, so you'll just have to settle with this. And look, I got a present for you too," She pulled another thing from behind her back, this object being a small rectangular box with blue wrapping paper and a purple ribbon, "happy birthday." She pushed the box forwards and Harriet carefully took it, still surprised by the cupcake.
She slowly ripped the wrapping paper off and laid the purple ribbon next to her, wanting to keep it since she always liked the color purple. She opened the box and let out a small, 'oh' as she saw her old glasses lying inside.
"I know that the girls at school broke your glasses, so I fixed them and wrapped it in a box. I would have bought you new ones, but then I remembered how much you loved these particular kind." Harriet picked up the oval purple rimmed glasses and put them on her face, being able to see much more clearly than she usually did.
"Thank you, Lulu." Harriet smiled and Lulu shrugged.
"I figured it was the least I could do, since you get treated so badly by my own mother."
"I'm surprised that you're even related to her…"
"I know, but she wasn't always like this. She used to be the nicest woman in town, but then father died, and now she's been bitter ever since. Similar to your parents except that she… well yeah." Lulu trailed off as she saw the sadden look in Harriet's eyes.
"Oh, it's ok. I barely knew my parents, so it's not like I have anything to remember. All I know is that I look a lot like my mother, yet I have my father's hair color."
"You remember what they look like?"
"Yes, I have a picture of them in this locket," Harriet fingered the heart shape golden locket around her neck and opened it up. Inside was a young couple, apparently on their wedding day. The groom, a tall handsome man with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, had his arm around the bride's waist, who was smiling brightly. She had long curly blonde beautiful hair, so beautiful that it looked like it was done with a curling iron. Her eyes were a dark green, and shined with happiness, "this was before I was born, and they were just married."
"Wow…" Lulu leaned closer towards the picture, amazed. "Your mother is so beautiful. And you really do have your dad's hair color." She glanced up at Harriet's hair and then back down at the picture of her mother. "Is that your natural hairstyle? It looks so much like your mother's… except it's a bit shorter."
"Yes, but I can see why some people would think I styled it like this." Harriet fingered a lock of her hair, pulled it, and watched as it spring back to its curl.
Their conversation was interrupted as they heard Tina grunt in her sleep and Lulu quickly stood up.
"I better go; don't want my mother to come down here and get us both in trouble." She turned around and made her way to the stairs. As she put one foot on the first step, she turned back to Harriet. "Again, happy birthday." Harriet smiled softly.
"Thank you."
A/N: Did you enjoy? It was certainly fun writing, and this is my first Harry Potter story. I tried to make Harriet's background as different as possible from Harry's, cause it would be quite stupid if Harriet was a The Girl Who Lived or something. That only works if everyone in the Harry Potter universe was genderbent, but this isn't that kind of story. This features both genderbent and normal.
In the next chapter, Hagrid and Harry will be introduced, though Harry only says like, one word.
Review please, I just want to hear your opinions. Even if you don't have an account, just make up some random name! Thanks!