Chapter 3: Keeper of the Keys

Leila's prediction was right. "Found the perfect place, I have!" Uncle Vernon boasted upon his return to the car. "Everybody out!" he ordered to his wife, son, niece, and nephew.

Leila looked to her brother hesitantly. He simply shrugged his shoulders and exited the car as he was told. She followed after her brother into the cold and wet outside. Pulling her jumper over her head to protect herself from the rain, she leaned into her brother as Uncle Vernon pointed a pudgy finger toward a large rock in the middle of the sea. On that rock was a shabby shack that looked like it could topple over at any minute.

With a frantic expression, Leila looked to her brother and clung tightly to his arm as her heart began to race. There was no bloody way that she was going to go out there...in the sea. No bloody way. There was too much water. She could drown. And to make matters worse, Uncle Vernon declared that they were going to have to survive a storm on that isolated rock.

The poor Potter girl panicked. With tears streaming down her face she sprinted back toward the car. But when she tried to get in, she found that Uncle Vernon had been smart enough to lock her out. Leila pleaded to be let back in the car through her sobs. But Uncle Vernon simply picked the small girl up and threw her over his shoulder, despite her crying. He carried her, walking closer and closer toward the tiny boat they were expected to use to cross the already angry sea.

Leila wailed as she tried to claw herself away from Uncle Vernon...bringing much attention to them. Rarely had she ever been the one to draw unwanted attention to the Dursleys...or herself out of fear the Dursleys might snap, but right now she was more terrified of the sea than any punishment she might receive. She only hoped that someone would come and save her.

But no one came for her and next thing she knew, Leila was being tossed into the boat by her uncle. She screamed and tried to escape the boat, but Aunt Petunia's arms wrapped around her tightly. Being in Aunt Petunia's arms, Leila felt like a prisoner and found no comfort in them and there she stayed until Uncle Vernon had pushed them off the pier and they were several yards into the rough, cold sea.

Harry wrapped his arms around his sister who was shaking from crying so much. "I've got you, Leils," he whispered in comfort to his baby sister. Leila buried her face in Harry's oversized shirt and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Harry had always been the braver one. Sometimes, she wished that she could be brave like him, but she just couldn't do it and it felt like there was something wrong with her. That she should be able to be brave, but there was something stopping her...something she had no control over.

Leila could feel the downpour of rain soaking her clothes, but she remained clinging for dear life to her brother. Harry continued to whisper to her that everything would be alright. Despite her muffled cries, he continued to hold his sister close, knowing that she needed him. All the Potter twins had was each other.

When the boat finally came crashing to a half against the rocky island, Leila was the first one to scramble off the boat. The waves nearly knocked her into the sea as she climbed over Dudley, but she needed to feel land beneath her once more. She held tightly onto a rock that jutted out in the middle of the path until Uncle Vernon reached down and picked her up by the collar. He set her upright and pointed for her to walk to the broken-down house.

For a moment, Leila stood there too terrified to move, but Harry walked over and grabbed her hand and the twins walked toward the dilapidated shack together. Harry opened the door and the place didn't look any better on the inside than it did on the outside. The place reeked of seaweed and the wind howled through the many chinks in the walls. Uncle Vernon pushed the Potter twins further inside, but Leila continued to hold tightly onto her brother.

There were only two rooms in the place: a bedroom upstairs and the main room downstairs. Uncle Vernon sat down on the tattered sofa and muttered that the place was perfect as Aunt Petunia prepared dinner. The tinned tomatoes and crackers were served for dinner, but as usual, Dudley received more food than the Potter twins. Some things never changed, despite how dire the circumstances. Still quite shaken from the whole experience, Leila didn't leave her brother's side and thankfully, Harry didn't seem to mind a shadow.

After dinner, the Dursleys decided that it was time to go to bed...even with the storm howling outside. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia took the bed upstairs, much to Dudley's dismay who was relegated to the sofa. This left the Potter twins to sleep on the floor covered in ragged blankets that did little to provide warmth. So, Leila cuddled close to her brother for warmth. Harry wrapped his arms safely around his sister as the lightning flashed and the thunder boomed causing the shack to shake.

Leila pressed herself closer to her brother at the sound of every wave that crashed against the island. "You don't think we'll be washed away, do you?" she whispered to Harry.

"Just go to sleep, Leila," Harry responded. "The storm should be over by morning."

Trying to find comfort in her brother's words, Leila closed her eyes and exhaled slowly before she turned so that her back was toward him. Harry looked to his sister and sighed. He knew that she wasn't taking this well. It had been a hard day for them all. But to make matters worse they were in the middle of the sea and a family of spiders was watching them from the corner. Leila was nowhere near acting like herself and it was hard to see her like that.

Harry wanted to do something for her. Something to bring a small smile to her face after all the trials she had put up with today. Harry looked over at Dudley's watch and noticed that in five minutes it would officially be the Potter twins' birthday. After all the chaos of the past week, neither twin had made a single mention of their birthday. It had hardly seemed worth it.

The house began to creak and Harry heard a whimper escape Leila's lips. He then rolled onto his stomach and wrapped his left arm protectively around his sister while he used his right hand to draw a picture in the sand. He ran his finger through the coarse sand, drawing a rough picture of a cake with eleven candles on it. In his neatest cursive he wrote, 'Happy Birthday Leila and Harry!'

An odd crunching noise came from outside which caused Harry to lift his head. He looked from the door to his sister, but when the noise didn't stop Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked to Dudley's watch. After tapping his sister on the shoulder, she slowly rolled toward him. It was obvious that she hadn't gotten any sleep, but Harry gently smiled at her.

Without any explanation, Harry began counting down, "Five...four...three..two…" Suddenly, Dudley's watch began to beep. With a grin on his face, Harry propped himself up on his elbows and pointed at the cake he had drawn for his sister. "Happy birthday,, Leils," he whispered.

A half-smile spread on Leila's face before she whispered back, "Harry birthday, Harry."

"Make a wish."

Leila looked at the cake and then to her brother, who was smiling at her. She then rested her hand on the ground, palm facing upward before she whispered, "Together?"

"Together," Harry agreed with a nod before placing his hand in his sister's.

"One."

"Two."

"Three," they whispered together. The Potter twins blew out the fake candles on their eleventh birthday cake The cake make of sand was practically erased when a loud BOOM came from outside. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The whole house shook as Leila looked to her brother, the fear evident in her eyes.

This definitely wasn't normal. Leila's thoughts raced in fear. It was probably the sea coming to add them to its numbers. She was going to drown and on her eleventh birthday. Leila buried her head against her brother's chest as Harry looked to the door. Slowly, his arm wrapped tightly around his sister when suddenly, the noise stopped. Leila reluctantly lifted her head and looked to the door when the pounding started again. But the more she heard the noise the more it didn't sound like waves. No, it sounded like...knocking, which was even more frightening given the fact that they were supposed to be alone on the island having taken the only boat available at the pier. Leila clutched her brother's shirt with her hand and closed her eyes. Someone was outside...and they were trying to get in.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The pounding against the door continued. Leila wanted nothing more than to hide, but Harry pulled away and got to his feet. She looked up to her brother with a panic-stricken expression on her face as he reached a hand out to help her up. Rather reluctantly, Leila grasped his hand before he pulled her to her feet. Leila stood so that Harry was between her and the door as she leaned heavily against him hoping that maybe this was some sort of nightmare and not reality.

All the pounding seemed to have finally awakened Dudley who shot accusatory looks at the Potter twins from the sofa. Harry looked once more to the door before he slowly started walking backward toward the corner of the room, making sure that Leila was safely behind him. Dudley must have come to his senses and realized that it wasn't his cousins causing the ruckus because the boy jumped off the sofa and ran toward the corner. The pounding refused to cease.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia slowly descended the stairs in their nightclothes. Vernon was armed with a gun, but he didn't look all that intimidating. In fact, if Leila wasn't mistaken, he looked intimidated which was quite odd because normally it was the other way round. Aunt Petunia stayed behind her husband as he inched closer toward the door. When suddenly, the door fell to the dirt floor with a loud thud. SMASH. Leila shrieked and cowered behind her brother, shielding her eyes from whatever was about to happen to them. Honestly, she'd rather not know. Harry maneuvered them so that they were shielded by the fireplace that jutted out from the wall. The sound of thudding footsteps drew closer, causing the entire shack to shake. But then Leila heard the strangest thing: an apology. "Sorry, 'bout that," the gruff voice said.

Still refusing to look in that direction, Leila listened carefully as the sounds of the door being put back in it's hinges echoed through the room. What an odd sort of thing to do: knock a door off its hinges only to put it back on again, while apologising for the whole ordeal. There was definitely something off about this fellow, but Leila still couldn't bring herself to look at him.

By this point, Uncle Vernon had regained some of his composure because he began shouting at the fellow whom had broken down the door. "I demand that you leave at once sir! You are breaking and entering!"

Uncle Vernon's usual intimidation tactics didn't seem to bother this fellow one bit, even with a gun pointed at him. Instead, the bloke chose to insult the man with the gun. "Dry up, Dursley, you great prune."

The sound of a gunshot echoes through the room and the children covered their ears at the sound. Leila stole a glance toward her cousin who was cowering on the rickety table against the wall. He looked absolutely petrified by whatever had entered the shack. Then came the sound of more footsteps that once again caused the place to rattle. The footsteps came closer and closer. Harry took hold of his sister's hand and squeezed it tightly. If they were going to die, they were going to die together.

But the footsteps came to a stop. Leila mustered up a tiny seed of bravery as she peered over her brother's shoulder. She was immediately pummeled with regret. She should not have looked because what she was seeing was near indescribable. Right in front of Dudley stood a giant figure, much larger than any normal person should be. This shadowy giant figure made Uncle Vernon look petite in comparison. The giant man was eyeing Dudley up as if he were a piece of meat.

And for the first time in her life, Leila was glad that the Dursleys had underfed them. Dudley was much more appetizing with all the meat on his bones. Leila only hoped the giant knew that. "Please eat Dudley first," Leila begged in a whisper. "Please eat Dudley. Please eat Dudley.."

Dudley must have heard her because his eyes widened in fear. He then tried to push himself back further into the wall before he fumbled to open the window behind him. The giant chuckled. "Boy, i haven't seen you since you were a baby, Harry. But you're a bit more along than I would have expected. 'Specially round the middle."

As Dudley clung to the wall for dear life he stammered, "I-I-I'm not Harry."

Harry released Leila's hand and was about to take a step forward when Leila flung her arms around his midsection to try and hold her back. But Harry stepped out into the open area where the giant could easily find them and eat them. Leila was dragged along behind him. She tried to pull him back to safety, but Harry had already admitted that he was in fact Harry.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Leila though. If the man knew Harry's name it meant that he was looking for him. That meant he could want to kill or eat or do terrible things to them. What had she ever done to deserve to die like this? She was too young to die. She hadn't yet reached the light at the end of the tunnel. But it was looking more and more like she was going to reach a different kind of light at the end of a very different tunnel.

"Well of course you are," the man chuckled. "And that must be Leila hidin' behind yer."

"It is," Harry answered.

"Harry," Leila hissed at her brother before she lifted her head and looked at the giant man in the room. Her eyes widened in shock as the lightning lit up the room and she caught a glimpse of the man. He had dark unruly hair and beard and appeared to be dressed in something similar to a shaggy, hairy bathrobe.

"Yeh look an awful lot like yer mother, Leila," the giant man said with a soft smile on his face. "Splittin' image if yeh ask me-except fer the hair that is."

Leila blinked twice at the mention of her mother. She had never been told that she looked like her mother before. But she wasn't one to blindly trust either. No, instead she simply stared up at the man, despite the millions of questions running through her brain. The giant man looked at Leila curiously when Harry looked to his sister. He nodded toward the big man, expecting her to respond, but she only shook her head. Harry knew what she was thinking, so he sighed and then responded, "She doesn't talk to strangers."

"I'm no stranger, Leila," the man chuckled. "Would a stranger know yer birthday is today?" Both Harry and Leila's eyes widened in surprise which made the man grin. "Speaking of which, I got somethin' for yer both. 'Fraid yeh'll hafta share, only had time for one. May have sat on it at some point, but I imagine it'll taste fine just the same."

The man pulled a white bakery box out of his large coat and held it out for the Potter twins to take. Leila stayed still as Harry walked forward and grabbed the box. Harry opened it and Leila hesitantly took a step forward to see what was hidden inside. To her surprise it looked like a chocolate cake poking through the pink icing and green lettering. Happee Birthdae Harry an Leila! the cake read. It was the first birthday cake the twins could ever remember receiving and the thought that it had been a stranger to present them with it tugged at Leila's heartstrings.

Both Harry and Leila looked up to the overgrown man and found him gently smiling at them. "Baked it myself. Words and all." He appeared quite proud of his accomplishment.

"Th-thank you," Harry said.

But Leila said nothing. She was still very skeptical despite the fact that this strange man had remembered their birthday, while the Dursleys often refused to even acknowledge the day. Harry looked to his sister incredulously. He nodded his head toward the man. She shook her head. He nodded his head. She shook her head. He nodded his head. She shook her head.

Having witnessed the entire exchange, man chuckled again. "Yer welcome Harry...and yeh too, Leila." He then took a few steps before plopping himself down on the sofa, where Dudley had been sleeping. The man rummaged in his coat before he pulled out an umbrella. That was certainly a strange place to keep an umbrella, but what happened next was even more surprising.

He pointed the umbrella at the cold fireplace. Sparks flew from the umbrella and into the fireplace causing a gently roaring fire to spill light and warmth into the room. Leila's eyes widened in shock. Her first reaction was to look to her aunt and uncle who still looked more terrified than shocked. That struck Leila as odd. Why wouldn't that surprise them? It was then that it clicked. The Dursleys were hiding something. She had always suspected as much, but right she needed answers.

Leila's thirst for knowledge triumphed over her feelings of fear. She took a step closer toward the man, but still stood behind her brother. With her arms folded across her chest and a quizzical expression on her face she asked, "Who are you?"

"Thet's right, yeh'd be too young to 'member me," the man said shaking his head for a moment before meeting Leila's gaze. "The name's Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" Leila whispered to herself in confusion. She had heard that word before, but where? Leila then repeated the word, "Hogwarts." Then it came to her. That was the word she had seen on the letter in the envelope...that she hadn't been allowed to open any farther.

"Ah, see yeh know all 'bout Hogwarts, then."

"No," Harry and Leila responded simultaneously.

"No? Don't yeh both wonder where yer mum and dad learned it all?"

"Learned what?" Harry questioned.

"Learned what?" Hagrid mused. But then he repeated himself, having grown quite angry by the second time. "Learned what?"

By this point, Hagrid had jumped to his feet causing the floor to shake. Both Harry and Leila tumbled to the ground from unsteadiness. From the floor, the twins watched as Hagrid stomped across the room until he stood directly in front of the Dursleys. He was practically shaking with anger. Aunt Petunia cowered behind Uncle Vernon, who looked pretty helpless with a bent gun that was no longer in working condition. Uncle Vernon tried to back away, but he only pushed Aunt Petunia further into the wall.

"Yeh mean to tell me that they knows nothing?" Hagrid growled, raising his large fist in the air. "'Bout anything?"

"We know some things," Harry interrupted causing Hagrid to turn back and look at the twins.

"We-we're loads smarter than Dudley at math and reading and…" Leila began.

"Not that kind of stuff," Hagrid sighed disappointedly. "About our world. Yer world...Yer parents' world...My world."

"What world is that?" Harry asked.

"DURSLEY!" Hagrid swiftly turned back toward the Dursleys with both hands thrown in the air angrily as if he were asking a deity to strike down the two beings in front of him.

But Uncle Vernon refused to let the intimidation continue. "We swore that when we took them in, we'd put a stop to all this! I forbid you from telling them."

"From telling us what?" Leila interrupted. All eyes were drawn to the little girl as she breathed heavily. She hadn't meant to draw so much attention to herself, but she was so frustrated and confused by the situation. All this going round in circles wasn't helping matters nor was it helping her understand what was going on. Leila then looked to her aunt and uncle. "What are you hiding from us? I figured out a long time ago that you were hiding something and I'd like to know what."

Hagrid turned toward Leila before taking a few steps closer to her. When he was directly in front of her, he bent down so that he was close to Leila's height. He was far less intimidating that way. Hagrid gently smiled before he placed a big hang on Leila's shoulder. For a moment she tensed, but when she looked in his eyes, she could tell that he wasn't nearly as intimidating on the inside as he was on the outside. Leila took a deep breath before she nodded her head for him to continue. "Yer a witch, Leila."

Leila's eyes widened as she gasped, "That's not a very nice thing to call someone."

"But it's the truth. An-an' Harry, yer a wizard." Hagrid turned to look at her brother. He then smiled as he looked between both twins. "Thumpin' good ones, I'd wager. Once yer trained up a bit."

"You've made a mistake," Harry said as he shifted his weight. "We can't be...witches or wizards. I'm Harry….just Harry. And she's Leila...just Leila."

"Tell me this, just Harry and just Leila, have either of you ever made anything happen? Anything thet yeh couldn't explain when yer angry or scared?"

Harry and Leila looked to each other. Leila tightly pursed her lips. Plenty of odd things had happened...to them both. The most recent being the infamous boa constrictor incident. But Leila had her fair share too.

Once, she had been running away from Dudley and his gang on the playground when suddenly she appeared in Mrs Figg's living room with the old woman's cats. What made the situation stranger was that Leila had wished she were there instead of running and then suddenly, she was. Now that she thought about it, Mrs Figg wasn't anywhere near surprised as she should have been. In fact, the woman had given Leila a glass of milk and a biscuit, warning her not to tell Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon, before sending her on her way.. Mrs Figg hadn't even asked a single question about how she had gotten there.

Leila had plenty of other unexplainable moments, as did Harry. Both twins looked back to Hagrid and slowly nodded their heads. "Thought so," Hagrid responded with a glint in his eye.

He then stood up and reached into one of his pockets and pulled out two envelopes that looked similar to the ones that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had tried to keep from them. Hagrid handed the letters toward the twins. He laughed, realized he was trying to hand each twin the wrong letter. He then criss-crossed his arms and nodded for each twin to grab their own letter.

Leila hesitantly waited for Harry to grab his letter first before reaching for her own. This time when she opened it, she didn't even take the time to look at the address or the seal. Instead, she pulled the letter out of the envelope and read hers to herself while Harry read his aloud.

Hogwarts School

Of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

After reading her letter, Leila looked up at Hagrid with her eyes wide as Harry continued to read his aloud. Was this all real? Was there really a such thing as magic? And witches and wizards? For so long she had only believed that to be fantasy-the thing of books and movies-a place to escape into one's imagination. Never had she ever considered such a thing to be real. Never.

When Harry finally finished reading his letter, he looked to his sister in confusion. It seemed that neither of the twins could grasp the reality of what their letters were trying to tell them. The twins then both looked to Hagrid for answers, but they were interrupted by Uncle Vernon.

Their Uncle stormed over and tore the letter from Leila's hand. He held it above her head and she jumped to try to reach it, but she came up short...quite literally. Hagrid then reached over and grabbed the letter out of Uncle Vernon's hands before handing it back to Leila and then looking back to Vernon with narrowed eyes.

Uncle Vernon stomped his foot and hissed, "They will not be going! I refuse to let them be a part of this rubbish like their blasted parents!"

"You knew about this?" Harry questioned.

Leila looked to her aunt and uncle and her eyes widened. "It all makes sense now. Look at them-they knew."

"Of course we knew," Aunt Petunia scoffed. "How could you two not be? My perfect sister being who she was. Mother and Father were so proud the day she got her letter. We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful? I was the only one to see her for what she was...a freak!"

"My mother wasn't a freak!" Leila argued. She was too far gone to turn back now.

"You didn't even know her!" Aunt Petunia hissed at her niece. Leila responded by stepping close to her brother for safety, but still narrowing her eyes at her aunt before the older woman continued to rant. "It was always Lily this...and Lily that. She and that god-awful boy with the greasy hair were always playing stupid tricks and showing off. Then she met that Potter...and then she had you two. And I knew. I knew that you both would be just as strange. Just as...abnormal." By this point Aunt Petunia was shaking in anger. "And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up! And we got landed with the two of you!"

"Blown up?" Harry shouted.

"You told us they died in a car crash!" Leila yelled.

Hagrid seemed just as upset as the twins about Aunt Petunia's description of the Potters' fate. "A car crash? A car crash killed Lily and James Potter?"

Aunt Petunia rolled her eyes and scoffed, "We had to tell them something. We couldn't have people thinking they were ours."

"It's an outrage! It's a scandal!"

"They will not be going!" Uncle Vernon seethed, stomping his foot on the ground for emphasis.

"And I suppose a great Muggle like you is gonna stop them?"

"Muggle?" Harry and Leila asked in confusion simultaneously.

"Non-magic folk," Hagrid responded calmly to the twins before turning back to the Dursleys chock-full of emotions. "Yer tryin' to stop Lily an' James Potter's' twins from going to Hogwarts? Yer mad! They'll be going to the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world and will be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever known: Albus Dumbled-"

"I will not be paying to have some crackpot old fool teach them magic tricks!" Uncle Vernon roared, waving his hands frantically in the air. "No. No. Absolutely not."

"Never insult the name of Albus Dumbledore in front of me!" By this point, Hagrid had enough of the Dursleys. Most people could tolerate them much longer...or at least they pretended to.

Acting on impulse, Hagrid pulled his umbrella out again. He took aim at Dudley, whose back was turned to them and was face first in the cake for the Potter twins. It all happened so fast. There was a flash of light and then suddenly, a pig's curly tail appeared on Dudley's rear end.

Harry and Leila started to giggle as Dudley began frantically jumping up and down with his hands on his arse. If it wasn't for his terrified facial expression, one could have sworn the poor boy was trying to do a jig. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon quickly rushed over to their son as Hagrid whispered to the Potter twins, asking them to keep the tail incident a secret. They nodded their heads in agreement.

"Now then, yeh two best be gettin' some sleep. Have a long day ahead of us," Hagrid said as the Dursleys ran to the door. They realized that with the storm still raging and the darkness enveloping everything, they were stuck. So, the three Dursleys hid in the upstairs bedroom, not even daring to show their faces again with Hagrid present.

Harry and Leila both climbed onto the sofa. Hagrid then placed his coat over them and tucked them in, something the Dursleys had never done. It was probably the warmest covering Leila had ever had in her life. She snuggled close to it and quickly fell asleep. Somehow it seemed like everything had changed and something had started.

Author's Note: And here's another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! :) Thanks to nixddragon for beta-ing. :)