AN: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. There, I said it. Happy?


Yes, Your Highness

Need to know

For a long time, nobody moved or said anything.

It was as though someone had pressed the pause button of life, and Harry had never seen the Durleys standing so still for so long. The spell was broken when the intruder turned toward the fascinated young boy, ignoring the stares of everyone in the room.

The corners of his dark eyes crinkled, and Harry guessed the man was smiling. He wasn't used to be the reason of someone's happiness, and found that he quite like the sensation. With such kind eyes, the stranger was obviously not a threat, but judging by the Dursleys' tense posture; they were not sharing his opinion.

"Yeh look just like 'em!" he said happily. "Yer dad's hair and yer mum's eyes!"

Harry saw a flash of teeth before the giant's untidy beard covered it again, even though it seemed trimmed, hiding half of his face.

His expression changed radically though, when he caught sight of the three other inhabitants, huddled together in fear.

His eyes narrowed sharply, and his lips seemed to curl in disdain upon seeing Vernon's pitiful attempt to appear threatening with his rusted rifle.

Ignoring the gun entirely, he approached the trembling family and only stopped when he was right in front the terrified father.

"Stay where you are, you brute! If I have to, I will use this!" Surprisingly, he didn't stutter, though his voice was noticeably higher than usual.

The mysterious man's scoff showed how he impressed he was.

"With that old thin'? Yeh would hurt yerself more than me! And the safety ain't even off for god sake!"

It was difficult to say whether the idiot felt more embarrassed or frightened, but when the stranger snatched the riffle from his hands and threw in the corner of the room, his squeak was all they needed to hear.

Harry, tired and not willing to be the witness of yet another 'Dursley-special' tantrum, decided to do the polite thing and introduced himself, even though the man apparently already knew him.

"Hum, Hello, sir. My name is Harry. I'm sorry but, who are you?"

Fortunately, the giant seemed amused by his clumsy interrogation, and turned back to him.

"Ah, my bad. The name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keepers of Keys and gardener of Hogwarts, yer new school."

"I' m sorry, what?" Harry said blankly.

"Yeh… do know about Hogwarts, right?"

Seeing Hagrid's expectant though suspicious expression and hating looking like an idiot, the boy quickly thought.

Hogwarts

Yes, he had already heard that name before, something about a school his old teacher's son had got admit into. His father had been so proud; it was the only thing he could talk about for weeks.

"It's the… school for gifted or wealthy kids, right?"

The three adults in the room seemed to let out collective sigh of relief, and Harry briefly turned toward the Dursleys, before asking the obvious question.

"Well then, pardon the question but, why are you here? Dudley is already going to Smeltings, you know?"

Hagrid froze and kept staring incredulously at Harry who started to fidget.

"What?" he murmured.

When he received no answer, he looked side way to the other inhabitants, only to find his aunt and uncle looking as though they had just been given the death sentence.

"Yeh didn't tell him?! Yeh didn't tell him who he was?"

Harry almost interrupted then - he knew exactly who he was, thank you very much - but the furious look on the gardener's face quickly dissuaded him.

"Yeh didn't tell him what his name means?"

Now Harry was just confused. As far as he knew, Potter was a pretty common name in Britain, and no one had ever even blinked when he told them who he was.

"Yeh- Don't yeh know that this boy is important? Don't yeh understand his role in our society?"

He had the impression that Hagrid wasn't talking about the 'children are our future' thing.

Upon hearing the giant's last questions, the Dursleys' aversion of Harry seemed to give them the strength to answer.

"Important?! This boy's only role is to be the scum of society! Just like his father!"

"Just because my father was a jobless drunk, it doesn't mean that I will be one too!" Harry yelled angrily.

"A jobless drunk! How dare yeh speak of Lord Potter that way?!"

"L-lord?" Harry stuttered faintly.

Hagrid suddenly looked guilty.

"Aye, he was. Sorry yeh had ter find out like that. If those idiots had done their part…" Looking at the Dursleys, his tone hardened again. "Yeh had the great honour to raise James Potter's only son, the last of his name, and yeh-"

"His son?! More like his bastard!"

Harry heard Hagrid inhaling sharply, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

A bastard. His aunt had already called him like that, but he had always thought that it was just to show him how angry she was. He had never imagined that it was actually true…

"Don't call him that!" Hagrid roared.

"But it's true, isn't it?" Harry asked quietly.

The question obviously made the giant uncomfortable.

"Well…"

It was all the answer he needed. He looked up when he felt large warm hands on his frail shoulders. Even on his knees Hagrid was at least two heads taller than him. It was only when something salty touched his lips that he realized he was crying, and he suddenly had trouble breathing.

"Yer father was a good man, yer mother was one of the kindest person I ever met, and they both loved yeh very much, never doubt that."

"But then, why am I a-"

"Someone else will tell yeh all about that. For now all yeh need ter know is that yeh'll study at Hogwarts, under the Great Dumbledore."

"Oh no, he won't! I refuse to let him go there! He doesn't deserve it! I won't pay for it!" His aunt screeched.

"As if yeh could afford it!" Hagrid let out a bark of harsh laughter. "He belongs ter Hogwarts, as did his father, and his grand-father, and every Potter before them!"

"He is just a little bastard! He doesn't belong to their world, just like my sister! They don't deserve this honor!"

Her tone was so full of jealousy; it was a miracle she wasn't turning green.

"Yeh liar! She was the brightest girl in the school, and her son will probably be as great as her!"

"She disgraced herself and our family when she slept with a married man like a vulgar slut! What is so great about that?!"

Hagrid's hands squeezed painfully his shoulders, and he would have winced if he hadn't been so shocked by the giant's next words.

"They died like true heroes, show them some respect!"

"But, the car crash…" His laborious breathing worsened, and the edges of his vision were darkening.

"The what! What did yeh tell him about his parents' death?!" He took a deep breath and, calmer, he stared into Harry's eyes. "Forget what they said, yer parents died protecting yeh. Yeh three are considered heroes by those who know the story! Always remember that!"

"They… loved me?"

"More than anything. More than life." He said solemnly.

Harry gave a small smile.

"That's… good."

And then he fainted.


The first time he woke up, he was being carried away in Hagrid's warm arms. He could smell the odor of grass, firewood and leather on the giant's coat. It was strangely familiar in a reassuring way, and he fell back asleep.


The second time was when his head banged against something, hard. He only heard a part of a panicked apology before he lost consciousness, again.


The third time was also the last, and he came back to the land of the living gradually. Judging by the rocking motion, he was now on a boat, and judging by the sun's position, it was at least 8am. Hearing a humming, Harry turned his head toward the sound, grunting slightly. With his luck, it had probably been the corner of a table or something.

"Yer awake! Finally!" The loud voice made Harry wince and his head pound.

With a quiet 'yes', he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked around. He didn't 'now much about boats, but even he could tell this one was rather nice.

It was small, yes, but well taken care of, and both Hagrid and he could comfortably fit. It advanced at a steady rhythm toward the rapidly growing little town, even without the giant piloting the boat.

"Here." Looking up, he took the offered thermos with a nod of thanks and brought it to his lips. After taking the first sip, he paused and immediately spit it out.

Wrinkling his nose at the strong smell, he looked at Hagrid with wide eyes.

"What the bloody hell is that!?"

The nice gardener took the offending object back and sniffed it. With an embarrassed chuckle, he gave Harry the other one.

"My bad, my bad! Here, that should be better."

Suspiciously tasting the drink, he relaxed, recognizing the familiar taste of Earl Grey. Taking the time to enjoy the tea and the feel of the salty wind brushing against his face like a gentle caress, Harry sighed deeply.

"So it wasn't a dream…"

Hagrid didn't say anything, and just looked at him.

"What you said about Hogwarts, about my parents, about me… Was it true?"

"Yes, it is. Yeh shouldn't have found out that way, though. Sorry."

Bringing his knees to his chest, Harry gave slight shrug, and stared into the dark liquid. After another moment of silence, he asked distantly, still deep in his thoughts and not really interested by the answer:

"What happened after I…fainted?"

"Not much, really. The Dursleys went back ter sleep after I nicely asked them ter, and since we couldn't leave because of the storm, we spent the night there. The sea only calmed down this morning, and now we're goin' ter London ter buy your things and meet someone."

"What things? And who are we meeting?"

"Yer school things. Oh, which reminds me…"

He gave Harry a crumpled letter, the same as the one who had started everything, but with just his name on it, and with slightly trembling fingers, he opened it.

With all the troubles it had caused, he was almost expecting it to hold the secrets of the Universe, and so, was slightly disappointed when it turned out to be an ordinary letter of acceptation, though a very fancy one. Hogwarts School for Heirs and Gifted was actually kind of intimidating, especially with all the Headmaster's titles. The Victoria Cross? The George Cross? Member of the Order of the Garter? What was a knight doing in a school? Even Harry had heard of him on the news and in his history class.

"We're the 1st August, isn't it too late?"

"Don't yeh worry 'bout that, yeh've got special circumstances. We'll take care of it once we're back in London."

"Where we will be meeting…?"

"Afraid I'm not allowed to say, but don't worry, she'll tell you everything about… well everything, really."

Before Harry could ask why Hagrid couldn't simply do it, the boat bumped into the harbor wall, and they both clambered out.

He followed the giant until they stopped next to a helicopter, and he let out a small gasp. It was his first time seeing one, and the sight was truly imposing. He was still staring open-mouthed when Hagrid handed him his small paper bag. He let out a relieved sigh when a quick check showed that nothing was missing.

Once the kind man had help him getting on the flying device, he fastened the seatbelt and accepted the communication headset. As they got higher and higher from the ground, Harry took his drawing supplies out of the bag and looked around. He doubted he would have another opportunity like this one anytime soon.


The flight was rather peaceful and between two sketches, the small talks with Hagrid were rather relaxing. They landed at the London's heliport, where an expensive looking car was waiting for them. At the gardener's gesture, Harry hesitantly got in the car, and found a bag of new clothes which actually fitted him.

"New clothes? Why?"

"Trust me; yeh'll need them where we're goin'."

With a confused frown, he put on the black shorts, and the white button-up. Eyeing the weather, he decided to add the dark hoodie, but left it open. Even though the clothes were obviously of good quality, the effort was ruined by the boy's wild hair, broken retro glasses and beat-up trainers. It almost looked as though he had stolen them.

The car slowed down to a stop, and he followed Hagrid out of the car. The wind hit his shins, the only parts not covered, and he shivered slightly. He almost had to run to match the giant's pace, and already breathless, he asked:

"Where are we going now? Do we start with the school supplies, or are we finally going to meet that mysterious person?"

"The meetin' first, then the shoppin'."

They kept walking, or running like this for a few more minutes, before Hagrid stopped before one of those fancy club for gentlemen, famous in the 19th century. Harry raised an eyebrow upon seeing the name of the establishment.

"The…Leaky Cauldron?"

His companion didn't seem to notice the skepticism in the young boy's voice, and nodded happily, before sobering and turning toward a confused Harry.

"Yeh better put the hood up before entering."

Following the strange advice, he pushed the door open, and let Hagrid lead the way to the bar, where the barman visibly brightened when he saw the gardener.

"The usual?"

"Yes, but first, I was told to brin' this little one to the room number 3. Is she already there?"

Tom, or so his nametag said, briefly looked at Harry, before doing double-take.

"Is that…?" He asked, eyes frantically searching Harry's forehead.

Dropping a heavy hand on the boy's head, and thus obscuring his view, Hagrid gave a small nod, a clear sign to be more discreet. After a moment, the barman slightly shook his head, and answered.

"Yes, but she asked to see him alone."

With a sigh, Hagrid took a seat on a stool.

"Of course she did… Would yeh mind showing him the way?" Turning to Harry, he added, "Don't worry, she will explain everything."

Torn between his hesitation to leave the only person he trusted and his desire to finally learn the truth, he started to follow Tom, and, without turning around, said with a confidence he didn't feel, "I'll be back soon."

He only heard a tired grunt before they silently engulfed in a corridor, passing numbered doors, and stopping once they reached the third one.

With a small bow and a 'if you need anything', the barman was gone, leaving Harry alone in front of the suddenly very imposing door. Knocking three times, he cautiously opened it and slowly stepped in.

Back to him, she seemed to be contemplating the tasteful painting resting against the wall. He could only see hair, dark gold with some strands of a strange caramel color. The girl appeared to be the same age as him, though maybe a tiny bit taller and her clothes looked pretty expensive.

After a minute or two of silence, she finally turned to him, revealing lightly tanned skin and striking blue-grey eyes.

Holding out a dainty hand, she said:

"Hello, Mr. Potter. My name is Daphne Greengrass, and from now on, I will be your half-sister."


Hello Gentle Readers!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I certainly didn't.

Hagrid's speech is so much easier to read than to write, I swear! Next chapter should explain Voldemort's 'death' and Harry's role as Daphne's everything.

This story WILL be a Harry/Daphne story, but it won't be incest. Or maybe it will, I'm still trying to decide.

Again, thank you for the support, and if you have any question, feel free to review.

Have a nice day (or night).