"Harry Potter and his Long Lost Sister"
Jamie Louis watched in awe as Harry Potter flashed into view outside of the Triwizard Tournament maze. While others cheered in delight and pride, Jamie could sense that something went wrong. Harry was huddled on the ground grasping for breath.
"Why isn't he getting up?" Jamie thought to herself. And then she saw him, Cedric Diggory lying limp and immobile under Harry's heaving body.
"He's back! Voldemort is back!" Harry exclaimed and uproar was heard from the crowd, but different from the cheers and exclaims that occurred only moments before. Sounds of panic and confusion vibrated throughout the stands.
"He's dead. Oh my god, Cedric Diggory is dead…" Onlookers whispered while tears and gasps were added to the sounds of confusion. Despite the pandemonium that surrounded her, Jamie's main focus was Harry; she needed him to be okay. She watched as Harry was carried back to the castle by Mad Eye. It was only when Harry was out of her field of vision that Jamie snapped back into reality. She began to hear the sounds of panic that surrounded her and the depth of the situation began to sink in.
Cedric was dead and Voldemort had returned? Jamie could not believe what she was hearing. She had heard stories of Voldemort, but she grew up in a Muggle, non-magic, home so they were just stories to her. Horrible stories, but stories all the same; not a reality, not her reality. She didn't know how to feel. One thing that she knew for sure was that she was scared, but not for herself; she was scared for Harry.
Jamie and Harry were not exactly friends, more like friendly acquaintances. They both belonged to Gryffindor House, and they knew of each other. But their encounters never went beyond a "hello" or a nod as they passed each other in the hallway or ran into each other in their common room. But for some reason, Jamie felt a type of connection to Harry, but she figured she just must be star struck. He was Harry Potter after all, "The Boy Who Lived," the one who freed the Wizarding world from Voldemort's tyranny. She really didn't know Harry Potter at all. But Jamie could never shake the feeling of being drawn to Harry and in that moment, seeing him come out of the maze, she felt that connection was stronger than ever.
"You believe me, don't you professor?" Harry spoke as he sat numb across from Dumbledore in his office. "You believe me that Voldemort is back?"
"Ah, Harry I think that after tonight's events that it would be very difficult not to believe you." Dumbledore answered. It was only minutes before that Barty Crouch Jr. was being shipped back to the Azkaban, the Wizard Prison, after being revealed as a Mad Eye Moody imposter. Harry had just finished retelling Dumbledore of what transpired in the maze. Throughout the story, Dumbledore sat idle just listening to the past events; taking in what had happened and what it all meant. He knew that he would have to tell Harry a secret, one of many, he has been keeping from Harry for the past four years. "He wasn't ready," Dumbledore thought to himself. But whether he is ready or not Harry must know this one secret now.
"Yes, Voldemort is back and with that a whole new realm of danger. I hoped we would have more time…" Dumbledore got up from his seat and began pacing his office. "Harry there is something that I must tell you. Something perhaps I should have told you long ago…"
"What is it, Professor?" Harry did not know how much more shock he could take today. He wanted more than ever to just go back to his room and sleep; to escape from everything that had happened that day. But from the expression on Dumbledore's face he knew what he was about to say was important; he just did not know if he could handle any more life altering news for the day.
"Harry…" Dumbledore sighed." "Harry, you have a sister."
Harry just stared at him. Not sure if he should be taking what Dumbledore said seriously or whether he should just laugh at the ridiculousness of his statement. Not knowing how to respond, Harry just continued to stare as Dumbledore explained.
"A twin sister, actually," Dumbledore continued. "When your parents found out that Voldemort was hunting them, was hunting you and your sister, they knew you both needed protection. There was a spell, a very powerful spell that linked sibling to one another. The youngest could not die as long as the oldest survived…"
Harry began to rub his eyes. He was just so tired and nothing that Dumbledore said was making any sense...
"They thought that if they separated the pair of you then you both would have a better chance of surviving. And so they cast the spell. Your sister was technically the oldest, just by a few moments. So your parents left her with a Muggle nurse, a woman they had befriended whom they knew would keep your sister safe and well cared for. Your parents did not tell anyone of your sister's whereabouts, not even Sirius. They did not want to risk Voldemort finding out where she was hidden. They knew if she stayed safe than you would be safe as well. The only person who knew was me. They used the Fidelius Charm to keep her cloaked from Voldemort, the same charm that was cast to protect them against Voldemort except I was the Secret Keeper instead of Peter Pettigrew."
Harry just sat in silence. "It couldn't be true. It doesn't make sense, it can't be true…but what if it is?" Harry thought to himself.
"Why now? Why are you telling me this now?" Harry said finally.
"Because now that Voldemort has returned she is in danger; you both are." Dumbledore responded. "I am afraid that Voldemort is going to try to get to her in order to get to you."
"What about the Fidelius Charm? Shouldn't that protect her?"
"The charm only works over the place where it was cast. Your sister is no longer there, Harry. She is here, at Hogwarts. Of course, she is protected while on the grounds, but Voldemort will be able to find her."
"Who is she?"
"Jamie Louis"
The next few days were a blur to Harry. Cedric was dead, Voldemort was back, and he had a sister. Every day as he woke up, it was like he was realizing it all over again. Of course he confided in Hermione and Ron about Jamie. They were just as shocked as he was, but they understood that Harry needed to handle the situation in his own way. When he wanted to tell Jamie was completely up to him. At least that was the impression he was given until Hermione came storming into his room one morning.
"Harry, you have to tell her!" Hermione exclaimed as she burst in the boys' dormitory one Saturday morning. The room was empty except for Ron and Harry who were still sleeping in their beds.
"Hermione, what are you doing? People are exercising their right to sleep over here." Ron said disgruntled as he pulled his pillow over his head.
Hermione ignored him and moved over to Harry's bed. "Harry did you hear me?" Hermione said as pulled the sheets off of Harry's sleeping body.
"It's hard not to." Ron responded again which once again Hermione ignored.
"Hermione, it's Saturday morning can we please talk about my estranged sister at a more decent hour." Harry replied as he snatched the sheets back from Hermione and pulled them over his head. "Besides I thought you understood that I needed to handle this in my own way."
"Harry, how can you not want to talk to her and get to know her." Hermione sat down at the edge of Harry's bed. "She's practically the only real blood relative that you have left."
"Hermione, the queen of sensitivity." Ron grunted.
"Oh shut up, Ronald." Hermione scoffed. "Harry, you shouldn't be avoiding her. Just talk to her"
"Oh yea, and how exactly should he start this conversion," Ron said as he sat up in bed. "'Hello Jamie, I know we don't know each other very well, but I thought I should let you know that I'm your brother and our parents shipped you away to protect us from You-Know-Who. And also we are magically linked so if you die that frees me up to kick the bucket as well.' I don't really see that going over too well." Ron said as he climbed out of bed and pulled on the closest pair of jeans he could find.
"Well obviously he would have a little bit more tact than that Ron." Hermione responded.
Hermione and Ron continued to bicker back and forth while Harry thought about what they said. Ron was right; he didn't know Jamie that well. One of the few things that Harry knew about Jamie was that she was adopted. She grew up with Muggles just as he had, and from what he knew the only thing she knew about her birth parents was that they gave her up soon after she was born. But he didn't like how Hermione said he was avoiding Jamie; that wasn't it at all. Whenever he left his room, whispers would always follow him and people would try to ask him questions about Cedric's death or Voldemort's return. It wasn't something he wanted to deal with so after his classes he would go back to his room to just avoid it all. But Harry was afraid. He kept thinking, what if Jamie doesn't believe him or thinks he is crazy. What if she ended up resenting him because she was sent away and not him? But what concerned Harry the most was if Jamie didn't want a brother at all. Jamie is the last chance Harry has at a real family, and he wants to know her. But what if she doesn't want to know him…
"I'll tell her, okay. I'll tell her today." Harry said finally.
It was the trip to Hogsmeade Village that day, and Harry devised a plan to tell Jamie the truth. He would take her over to the lake, they would sit on the dock, and Harry would explain everything to her. Then the information would be out there and what she wanted to do with it would be up to her. Harry was rehearsing in his mind what he was going to tell Jamie as he walked down the road to Hogsmeade. He was about to enter the Three Broomsticks, when he saw Jamie wondering off into the woods.
"Something isn't right," Harry said to himself. He went to follow Jamie into the woods leaving the Three Broomsticks behind him. She seemed as though she was following something, but from what Harry could see there was nothing in front of her. He tried calling out to her, but she didn't respond. It was as if she was in a trance that blocked out everything around her. "Oh this can't be good." Harry thought to himself. Then all of a sudden she stopped in the middle of a clearing in the woods. She looked around as if she was confused on how she got there. Harry called out to her again.
"Harry, what are you doing here? Wait, how did I get here…" Jamie asked him perplexed.
"You don't remember?" Harry asked.
"No, the last thing that I remember was that I was heading toward Honeydukes, but somehow I got here."
"Well, well looks like I got two Potters for the price of one." A third person entered the clearing a person that Harry recognized immediately. It was Nelson Gleedle, a Death Eater, who was in the graveyard with him when Voldemort killed Cedric.
"Two Potters, what? Who are you? Why can't I move?" Jamie exclaimed as she struggled to get free of the invisible binds that held her in place.
Harry realized he couldn't move either as he struggled to free himself with no avail. He could tell that Jamie was beginning to panic. "Jamie everything is going to be okay, I promise."
"Now Harry, it's not nice to lie to your sister. Didn't mommy and daddy ever teach you that? Oh wait, that's right, they didn't." Gleedle mocked as he stepped closer to Jamie.
"Get away from her!" Harry exclaimed
"Sister? Harry what is he talking about?" The look of shear panic and now confusion resonated on Jamie face.
"Oh wait, have you not told her?" Gleedle asked gleefully as he looked from Harry to Jamie. "Oh this is going to be more fun than I anticipated. Well Jamie, not too long ago give or take 14 years or so, a witch named Lily Potter gave birth to twins…" Jamie looked over to Harry in pure confusion. "Oh, have you not heard this version before? Yes, well very few people new of this it was very hush, hush you know… well I guess you didn't. Anyway, the witch and her wizard husband, James Potter, you might have heard of him, cast a little spell in order to protect their two new bundles of joy from the big and scary Dark Lord. Really quite annoying actually, just made everything more complicated than it had to be. The spell bounded the twins together and as long as the eldest twin was alive the younger twin could not die. Well the Dark Lord then had to make a choice of which twin to go after and since little Jamie here was nowhere to be found, Harry you were first pick. But I think we all know what happened after that no need to rehash those details. Well! Now that we are all up to speed, let's get down to business."
"Did you know?" Jamie said so softly that Harry could barely make out her words.
"I just found out I swear. I was going to tell you today. I wanted to tell you right away, but I didn't know how. I'm sorry…" Harry had to make her understand, but from the look on Jamie face he could tell she looked more hurt now than scared.
"Hate to cut this little family reunion short but…" Gleedle slowly raised his arm and simultaneously Jamie was lifted from the ground. Gleedle created a fist with his hand and Jamie reached to her throat as if she was choking. "Sorry Harry, but big sis has to go, Dark Lord's orders."
Harry felt helpless. No matter how much he tried he could not break free of his invisible binds. He couldn't just watch as his sister died in front of his eyes, and then he saw them. Ron and Hermione were coming up behind Gleedle out of his field of vision. Hermione raised her wand and shouted, "Petrificus totalus!" Before Gleedle knew what hit him, he laid stiff as a board on the ground unable to move. Jaime dropped to the ground and Harry, with his invisible restraints gone, rushed over to her. Ron and Hermione quickly raced to Jamie to see if she was okay.
"Hermione, she's not moving." Harry said in a panic as he looked down at Jamie's immobile body.
Hermione lowered her head to Jamie's chest, "I hear a heartbeat and she's breathing. Very shallow breaths, but she's breathing. We have to get her to the hospital wing. You two carry her back to school and I'll levitate this one," Hermione pointed to Gleedle, "back to Hogwarts. I'm sure there is a cell in Azkaban with his name on it."
When Jamie awoke the next morning in the hospital wing, she found Harry asleep in a chair next to her bed and Albus Dumbledore pacing the aisles.
"Well good morning, Jamie. How are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked gently as he walked closer to her.
"Fine, I guess. Better than the feeling of being choked to death that's for sure." Jamie rested her hand by her throat.
"I would hope so. Your brother was very worried about you. He hasn't left your side all night."
"So it's true?" Jamie whispered. "He's really my brother?"
"Yes Jamie, you and Harry are twins. I was one of the very few people that your parents trusted with this information. I was the one to perform the linking spell between you two which I have broken. Since the both of you are no longer separated the spell no longer serves a purpose."
"You know I always felt there was something between us. I just never understood what it was."
"Ah well the bond of siblings can be very strong, especially, the bond between the two of you."
"I've created so many different scenarios about who my family might be, but I never imagined this."
"Trust me neither did I" Harry said as he sat up in his chair. "How are you feeling?" Harry asked Jamie.
"Better, much better." Jamie looked over at Harry, but then suddenly back to Dumbledore. "That won't be the last time Voldemort sends one of his goons after us is it?"
"No, I am afraid not. I fear that this is only the beginning." Dumbledore sighed.
"But we're in this together now. I'm going to make sure that nothing else happens to you."
"Harry, I'm your big sister. I'm supposed to be protecting you." Jamie smiled.
"We'll look after each other," Harry laughed.
"Well would you look at that." Dumbledore interjected.
Both Harry and Jamie looked over to Dumbledore and said together, "What?"
"You both have your parents' eyes."
Harry looked over at Jamie and said, "Yea, you have our dad's eyes. And I have our mother's"
Jamie just smiled. Together, Jamie and Harry, had found family and they weren't going to let anyone, especially Voldemort, take it away from them again.