Harry Potter and the Mysterious Sibling
Chapter One: Melanie
Years had passed since one Albus Dumbledore had left Privet Drive, and the house of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley indeed showed signs of more than one child living in their house, despite the couple's best efforts to hide it. The inhabitants of the house included Petunia Dursley, Vernon Dursley, their son - Dudley Dursley – and the two Potter siblings.
Harry Potter woke up to the unexpected light shining from somewhere. Is there a crack in the door? he wondered. How else would light have gotten into his little cupboard?
But as Harry awakened fully, he saw that he wasn't in his little cupboard; he was in Dudley's second bedroom. Littered around the room were toys, broken from the boy's temper and carelessness, and books, abandoned without a second thought.
"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Harry questioned aloud. He distinctly remembered falling asleep on his tiny cot inside his 'room.' While pondering the sudden scenery change, he turned to his left.
"Now I'm sure I'm dreaming." There was a girl lying there.
Harry's talking seemed to have wakened the girl, who yawned and stretched. She also seemed confused about where she was, turning around only to stifle a scream when she saw Harry.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?" Harry shot back. After all, this girl was in his 'home.'
She looked around the room in confusion, causing her red, wavy hair to become even messier. After a moment, she looked back. "I… I think… my name is Melanie Potter?"
"Potter?"
"Why's that so surprising?" Melanie asked.
"I'm Harry Potter."
"Does that mean we're related?"
"Maybe, but-"
There was a sudden loud knock on the bedroom door. Aunt Petunia's voice, shrill and strict, interrupted their discussion.
"Up! Get up! Now!" The door shook with every knock. "Are you up yet?"
"Yes," both Potters replied.
"Good. Girl, get out here and look after the bacon. Don't you dare let it burn; everything needs to be perfect for Duddy's birthday." Aunt Petunia's voice softened sickeningly on the last two words, prompting Harry to feign being sick.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, Aunt Petunia."
"Boy, you get down here and set the table." The two siblings waited until the Aunt Petunia hit the creaky step at the bottom of the stairs, though how Melanie even knew of that step puzzled her.
"As I was saying before-" Harry began, only to be interrupted by Melanie.
"We'll talk about this later; we better get down for Duddy's birthday." Harry grinned as Melanie rolled her eyes while saying 'Duddy.' If they were indeed siblings, it'd be nice to have somebody with a sense of humour (that didn't include chasing him or insulting him).
"Comb your hair!" Uncle Vernon barked at Harry once he stepped into the kitchen. Uncle Vernon nodded with approval at Melanie's braids, making Harry stare at him in astonishment. Wasn't he going to complain that the braids made her look like a five-year-old or something?
After Harry finished putting all the plates and utensils on the table, he hovered around a chair awkwardly. He had always cooked everything before. A sudden barrage of memories: he saw that Melanie cooked while he cleaned. As if to prove this fact, the small scar from a burn that he had gotten on his hand a few years ago faded slowly until it was gone completely.
"Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation?" Uncle Vernon chuckled at his own joke. At Harry's look, Vernon gestured at the chair that the young boy was standing behind.
"Er… I'll just go see how, um, Melanie's doing," Harry said, walking over to where the stove was. He was astonished to see a plate of at least a dozen friend eggs done perfectly and another plate of bacon. "You, er, cook really fast."
Melanie turned around, dropping the egg she was holding into the pan. "You surprised me!" She diligently reached her hand into the pan and picked out the shell pieces.
"Use a fork!" Harry handed her the mentioned object.
"I don't need one." Never in her recently gained 'memories' had she ever been burned. She smirked at Harry's surprised look, but he didn't say anything else as she finished the rest of their breakfast.
After she placed the two plates on the table and everybody got a plate of food, Dudley looked up from counting his birthday presents. There was a look of anger and disbelief on his face, as well as a film of, fake, tears beginning to show.
"Thirty-six. That's two less than last year."
How unbelievably spoiled are you, you little brat? Melanie scowled at him, which, thankfully, went unnoticed. Throughout her 'memories,' she recalled many times that Dudley had beat up her brother and teased both of them mercilessly. Not exactly somebody she wanted to be friends with.
Harry, on the other hand, wolfing down food to avoid having his plate overturned along with the table during one of Dudley's tantrums.
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present. It's here, under this big one from Mummy and Daddy," Petunia comforted in an adoring tone.
By this point, Dudley's face was turning red with anger. "All right, thirty-seven then."
Aunt Petunia also sensed the danger and assured Dudley that he'll have received two more by the end of today. Shockingly, Dudley had to concentrate hard for a moment before finally deducing that he'd have thirty-nine presents. Melanie knew that he was rather thick, but this was ridiculous.
"Crisis averted," Harry muttered, much to Melanie's amusement.
Oh dear…she thought, looking at Dudley. I'm related to some sort of whale-pig hybrid, aren't I?
Unaware of the two Potter's stifled snickers, Dudley started opening gifts to reveal a racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. Melanie watched, mentally calculating how much money that would all cost.
Of course their 'family' was quite rich but spent it all on spoiling Dudley.
Never had Melanie or Harry received anything worth mentioning for their birthday. The best Harry had gotten was enough money to buy a pack of gum at a dollar shop, and the best Melanie had received was some hair bands and some small clips. The reasoning behind this was that their birthday being on the same day resulted in them having to get twice the amount of presents as Dudley, though that was clearly a lie. Now that Melanie was ready to remember, she seemed to remember everything all at once, which was rather disorientating.
Aunt Petunia answered the phone, then put it down a minute later looking annoyed and worried.
"Bad news, Vernon. Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take them." She nodded in the sibling's direction.
Despite the fact that the old lady had broken her leg, Harry couldn't help but smile a little. Maybe he'd be able to go to the zoo with Dudley.
As Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia discussed where the two would be put, Melanie could feel herself getting more and more angry. The way they talked made her feel insignificant. She tuned out what they were saying to think about the recently acquired memories.
While she'd been cooking, she started to remember some things that were related wherever she looked. The pan, which she had used countless times to make meals. The table, which Dudley had once pounded so hard in a moment of anger that the legs had collapsed.
Despite how lucid and real these memories were, she couldn't help but feel that they weren't hers. If she had indeed lived here for the past decade, why couldn't she shake off the feeling that she'd only recently joined this 'family'? Everything that had 'happened' was clear but not clear.
Just thinking about this gave her a headache, which was worsened when Dudley started wailing that he didn't want either of the two siblings with him because they'd ruin everything.
The doorbell rang and her head gave a nasty throb.
"Are you okay?" Harry whispered. Melanie nodded, but regretted it instantly as the room spun around her.
Half an hour later, Harry was caught between joy at being included for once in the fun and worry for his… sister. Memories had shown him how she stood up for him and vice versa whenever there was trouble.
Harry didn't understand what was happening and how he started to remember new things that he certainly hadn't remembered before this morning. He still had a faint memory of sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs, but there was no indication of that. He was unsure of what it could be, but simply dismissed it as the drowsiness of waking up.
On the way out of the car, having arrived at the zoo, he was pulled aside by Uncle Vernon.
"I'm warning you now, boy. Any funny business, anything at all, and you'll be in that room of yours from now until Christmas."
"I'm not going to do anything, honestly." Uncle Vernon only scoffed in disbelief and let him go. It was as if he'd robbed a bank or something.
Though, Harry had been expecting this reaction; nobody ever believed that he hadn't done something on purpose.
One time, during first grade, he remembered seeing some girls picking on Melanie. A sudden gust of wind blew branches and leaves into their hair and face, leaving Melanie clean and unscratched. From her startled and confused look, as reported by Dudley, the Dursleys had deemed her innocent, accusing Harry.
There was also the incident with his teacher's hair turning blue, but he honestly couldn't work out how he could have even caused that.
He couldn't even remember how many times Aunt Petunia had tried to cut his hair, only to have it grow back the next day in its same unruly manner.
Harry couldn't stop the optimistic feeling that nothing was going to go wrong today, even declaring it quietly to himself.
He should've known that he'd just jinx it.
The sky was a clear blue with a few clouds crawling lazily across the blue landscape. A perfect day for a birthday.
Because it was a Saturday, the zoo was crowded with families eager to see various animals. The weather was warm and the Dursleys bought Dudley and his friend, Piers, large ice creams. Because the vendor selling the ice cream had asked Harry and Melanie what they wanted, they each got a small ice pop. Melanie had abandoned hers when it worsened her headache, giving it to Harry.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. Of course, he'd thought that, jinxing the day twice as strongly now.
After a rather greasy lunch, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in the, a welcoming break from the sun shining down on them. As expected, Dudley and Piers wanted to see the huge, poisonous cobras and the immense pythons. Dudley ran around the place, quickly finding the largest snake, which was asleep.
"Make it move," Dudley whined to his father, who tapped the glass.
"Do it again." No reaction.
"This is boring," Dudley moaned, with an expression that resembled one of the monkeys that they had seen before lunch.
Harry, on the other hand, moved in front of the tank and stared intently at the snake. Suddenly, the snake opened its eyes (I'd pretend to sleep too if it was Dudley tapping on the glass in front of me). It slithered closer to the glass and raised its head so that its eyes were level with Harry's.
It winked.
Harry stared in disbelief. Feeling rather foolish, he winked back.
The snake smiled, best as a snake could, and jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley. It gave Harry a look that said, 'I get that all the time.'
Harry felt sympathetic and murmured, "It must be really annoying." That prompted the snake to nod, and he asked, "Where do you come from?"
The snake 'pointed' with its tail to a sign next to the glass tank.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?" Harry asked politely. The snake's tail 'pointed' to the sign again, and Harry read on.
Bred in captivity.
"I see," Harry said. Before he could go on, there was a deafening shout.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley waddled over and pushed Harry down. Caught by surprise, Harry stumbled into Melanie, bringing both of them tumbling to the floor.
What happened next was so sudden that nobody could confirm what exactly happened. One second, Piers and Dudley were pressed up against the glass and the next, they lurched forwards, screaming, only to be yanked back by Mr. Dursley.
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the snake's tank had vanished.
The snake uncoiled itself from the fake branch in the tank and slithered onto the floor, heading for the exit. People in the reptile house screamed and started running around, only adding to the chaos. Thankfully, they all seemed to be aware of where the snake was, avoiding the chance of harming the poor animal.
"Brazil, here I come... Thanksss amigo," the snake whispered to Harry, who stared at it in disbelief.
"Harry?" Melanie whispered, finally free of the headache now that all the memories had been securely remembered. She wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but it definitely wasn't something good.
Everybody was in shock. The glass wasn't shattered, simply gone. Was there a secret lever that had been pushed that lifted the glass up? Was the glass melted suddenly? And, perhaps even stranger, was the glass swallowed by the snake?
Ignoring the vanishing act, Piers and Dudley were, fake, shivering and so 'traumatized' by the whole experience. They amped up the act even more when the manager of the reptile house came over to apologize.
Melanie could swear that she saw red when Piers said, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you Harry?" with a malicious grin.
"What, you think that Harry vanished a piece of glass?" Melanie shot back, shutting Piers up. Their eyes met, and she shot him the most furious glare she could manage. "I bet you think that Harry somehow used a musical instrument, charmed the snake, and convinced it to swallow the glass whole."
However, Uncle Vernon seemed to think that was exactly what happened. After Piers was gone, Uncle Vernon turned to Harry and Melanie. "Into your room, NOW."
But that was what they were waiting; a chance to talk. The two wasted no time before scrambling into their room.
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, just in case you were wondering, nor will I ever turn into J.K. Rowling at any point in my life. If on the off chance that I do and pigs start flying, you will be informed.
First fanfiction, don't be mean. The POV is going to be third person and be focused on Harry and Melanie. Chapters later on will also be in the third person POV of Ron and Hermione. If you recognize some parts directly from the book, I'll probably have altered it in some way.
The characters might be OOC at times, but I'll try my best (and we'll just have to see how good my best is, huh? XD).
Anyways, that's the first bit. Next time, it'll probably be them talking and the letters. I'd like at least one review before I continue, just to make sure that somebody's reading. I'll probably update soon regardless, but please read and review. *starts begging*
~ScaleneGalleons~