My Brother's Keeper
by ChatterChick
Summary: Sophie Potter is the younger sister of the infamous Harry Potter. Her life at Hogwarts should be set, but things take an unexpected turn when she is sorted into Slytherin. Being green is never easy, especially when those cunning folk will befriend you just as fast as they would cut your throat.
A/N I'm really excited to move onto Year 2 for this. I have some hopefully exciting things coming up, as well as new, but familiar, faces to introduce! :) Hope you all enjoy.
Chapter 13: The Visitor
Sirius forced a mug of coffee into James' trembling hands.
His friend needed rest more than anything, but after the events of last night, Sirius knew caffeine would have to make do. In one night, James' entire world was knocked off balance.
Sophie was sick.
Harry was injured.
Lily was dead.
Sirius shuddered to think at how much worse that night could have gone. As it were, they still weren't completely out of the dark yet. Sophie was fighting off a near-fatal disease and Harry needed to be examined for any lingering traces of dark magic. A funeral would need to be planned for Lily and Sirius wasn't sure how James was going to hold up through all of this.
It was a miracle that Harry had been found alive in the wreckage of the Thicket. Neither Sirius nor James could fathom what a six-year-old could have done against Lord Voldemort. The tearful explanation they had coaxed out of Harry confirmed what they had suspected had happened, but it didn't explain where Voldemort was now or how Harry survived what should have been a fatal curse. According to Harry, he had seen a 'green light', then Voldemort had 'disappeared' before Harry opened his eyes.
All that was left was a pile of Voldemort's black robes and his wand. He doubted that Voldemort was out there robe-less and wand-less, and he wondered if that could mean that the bastard was actually dead.
It was a small condolence that if Lily had to die, at least she had somehow managed to bring Voldemort down with her.
Sirius had stopped by the Potter's home in Godric Hollow to check in on them, but when he had arrived, he had stumbled upon a scene straight out of his worst nightmares. The house looked like it had imploded from the inside. Upstairs, James was on the ground hugging Harry's unconscious body, Lily laying face up next to them with her green eyes glazed over in death. Sirius had managed to pull James together, before the pair realized with horror that James had left Sophie at St Mungo's with the very wizard who had betrayed them.
Sirius was ashamed to admit that he hadn't exactly helped the situation. The moment he had walked into Sophie's hospital room and saw that traitor sitting by her bedside he had lost every ounce of self-control. Never had he wanted to hurt someone as much as he wanted to hurt Wormtail in that moment.
He could still hear Sophie shrieking, "Stop it! Stop it!" her eyes wide with terror as her uncles duelled.
Sirius nursed his own coffee, making a face at its bitter taste.
Professor Dumbledore's appearance on his doorstep that morning had hardly come as a surprise. He had wanted to examine Harry and talk to James. Dumbledore was quite keen on talking to Harry, something that James was against at the moment. Harry had been given a strong calming draught and was currently sleeping it off in one of the guest rooms upstairs. They hadn't had any luck calming the hysterical six-year-old until the calming draught took effect and Harry slipped into a deep sleep.
It was James who explained the events of the evening to Dumbledore. He was still in shock, his voice flat as he informed Dumbledore what should have been joyous news; Voldemort was gone.
Now the three of them sat at Sirius' kitchen table, mulling over their own thoughts. Any other time, Sirius may have reflected how out of place Dumbledore looked in his mismatched kitchen, drinking Earl Grey out of a mug with a pattern of brown paw prints.
Dumbledore was the first to break the silence. "Where is your daughter, now?"
"Sleeping upstairs," James said. Sirius knew the guilt at having to discharge her prematurely from the hospital ate at him. But it was hardly safe at the moment. At least the healer at St Mungo's had given them enough of the Dragon Pox anti-dote to treat her from home. "I couldn't stay with her, and didn't want to – "
James' trust had been completely shattered last night. While before James would not have hesitated to entrust Sophie to Sirius, Remus or Peter now he wouldn't dare.
"That is probably for the best," Dumbledore agreed. "Will you be remaining here for the time being?"
Sirius quickly nodded. The Potters' home in Godric Hallow, The Thicket, had been blasted apart by Voldemort. While James could probably buy a new property, Sirius thought it might be best for all three of them to stay with him for a while. At least he would be able to help keep an eye on them.
They could stay as long as they needed.
xXxXx
No one ever knocked on the door to Ruffy Ends.
Their nearest neighbours were muggles and the muggle-repellent charms on the house kept them away. Their wizarding friends only came when invited and usually floo'ed or apparated straight into the kitchen. Very few people even knew the address that the Potters lived at and if anyone were to look up the ownership of the house, they would find it belonged to one Mr Sirius Black.
So when the day came one mid-July afternoon that there was a knock on their door, Sophie was unsure what to do. She waited in the kitchen, hesitantly going to the door. Her dad had the day shift at St Mungo's, Harry was at Ron's for the weekend and Sirius didn't seem to hear it.
She decided it would be best to open it.
There, on her doorstep, was a woman straight off the Witch Weekly society pages. She was dressed smartly in a light blue summer robe with a matching sun hat. She had platinum blonde hair that was arranged in a pretty bun that sat just below the hat.
"Mrs Malfoy," Sophie greeted, slightly taken aback. What was Narcissa Malfoy doing on their front doorstep? Did Sirius know his cousin was coming for a visit?
"Sophie Potter," she replied, smiling down at her. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Is Sirius home?"
"Yes, just a moment." Sophie let the older witch into their kitchen as she called for Sirius to come down. "Sirius, your cousin is here!"
"Andy, I didn't know you were - " The smile trailed off his face when he walked into the kitchen to find himself face to face with Andromeda's sister.
"Sirius, it's been too long," Narcissa politely greeted.
"Not long enough," Sirius muttered just loud enough for Sophie to hear. She tried to hide a giggle as Sirius exchanged pleasantries with his cousin. If Narcissa heard, she gave no indication. "What brings you here? Sophie, why don't you put on the kettle."
"I've noticed you've been ignoring my invites," Narcissa mildly told him. She had the same grey eyes as Sirius, and they scanned the kitchen with slight distaste. Sophie knew it lacked any sense of décor and could have been a bit more cohesive. Everything was a mix-match and the colour scheme was rather loud. Not that James or Sirius really cared.
"What invites?"
"I don't buy for a second that my owl has not managed to deliver a single letter in eight years."
Sophie ducked her head and busied herself with the tea kettle. For years, Narcissa had been sending them invitations to birthday parties, holiday parties and even the odd 'play date' with her son, Draco Malfoy, when they were younger. Sirius had ceremoniously ripped each one of them and set them on fire. It struck Sophie as odd that Narcissa didn't give up over the years, although she supposed it was only a formality. They haven't received much these days other than the annual invitation to the New Years party Narcissa threw during the holidays or the Mid Summer's Eve party she threw in July. It was definitely odd that Narcissa decided now would be a good time to follow up on those missing invitations.
"We have a lot of protective enchantments around the house, maybe your owl couldn't get through."
"Yet I could?" Narcissa gave a rather vicious smile.
Sophie poured two cups of tea, feeling it was the polite thing to do. She used Sirius' favourite one with the brown paw prints on it, and a pretty light blue one with a white trim for Narcissa. She even found some biscuits that she arranged neatly on a plate. Narcissa watched her intently, as if she had never seen a human prepare tea before.
"Anyway, the reason for my visit is to personally deliver this, to you and the Potters." Narcissa produced a pair of small envelopes from her handbag. "I thought Sophie might like to come, a lot of her classmates will be there. It's a shame she hasn't had the chance to meet Draco before. He could have helped her through her first year. They're practically family."
Sirius broke the seal on one, reading the tiny card that came with it. "July thirty-first," Sirius said, pretending to think about it. "Well that's unfortunate, Cissy. We have plans."
"What plans could possibly be better than one of my parties?"
"Harry's birthday is that day," Sirius brightly told her, "We usually do some family party. Wouldn't be right to ask him to spend it shaking hands with politicians."
Only Narcissa's eyes gave away her displeasure as she told them 'Maybe next year then' with a smile. Sophie suspected that the party would never be held on that particular day again. Unless Narcissa wished to exclude them in the future.
She finished her tea, slowly sipping it and making small talk after that. She declined the biscuits, looking at the plastic muggle packaging they had come in with a frown. She asked Sophie how she was finding Slytherin, and about her favourite classes.
"Practically family," Sirius mocked after Narcissa left. He bit into one of the biscuits, before waving it around. Crumbs dropped onto the floor. "Funny, I don't see her pestering Andy about introducing her brat to Tonks."
Sirius was rather moody after Narcissa's visit, and Sophie decided to leave him be. It wasn't until later, after she was supposed to have gone to bed, that Sophie found out the real reason for Narcissa's visit. She was going to get a glass of water downstairs when she overheard Sirius talking to James. Sophie stopped at the top of the stairs, not daring to go any further. She was still curious why Narcissa had taken an interest in them and knew this was her chance to find out. They'd stop talking if they heard her coming down the stairs.
"What did Narcissa want anyway?" asked James.
"Her usual plots, I suspect. I think she's given up on Draco befriending the Boy-Who-Lived and has her sights set on Sophie. Probably thinks she's more attainable being in the same house and all."
Harry only had a small group of close friends, but it seemed everyone in the wizarding world wanted to be his friend because he was famous. People at school were sometimes extra nice to her because they wanted to use her to get to her brother. She could usually tell, because they'd ask her about him or want to meet him. She was happy that none of her friends were fame obsessed. Only Astoria had really met Harry so far, and that was because she spent so much time with Sophie. And by that point, she had heard enough about him from Sophie that she really wasn't star-struck.
Sophie would have thought that the Malfoys were above chasing after celebrities.
"She's a half-blood," James happily informed him. "Sophie's got to be low on the list of quality girlfriends for Darling Draco."
Surprisingly, Sophie found that that stung. Even if she didn't like Draco, she didn't like people thinking she was of poor quality. She sat down on the top step, ready to jump up if either of them came near.
Sirius seemed to have other thoughts on the matter. "I'd reckon she's pretty high up on the list, actually. Give it a few years and you'll see. The Potters have a good reputation in the current political climate, and if You-Know-Who ever pops up again, Cissy's got her sacrificial lamb to give him. As for being a half-blood, you know as well as I do how that works. She's got a pure-blood name and if she marries into the right family, everyone will just conveniently forget Lily's heritage and count Sophie's children as pure-bloods. As much as they all hate muggle blood, they know marrying the occasional half-blood keeps the gene pool healthy. It's just the insane who think otherwise," his voice dropped, "Like my mother."
"I hate it when you talk like that," said James, "You sound like you're breeding poodles."
Sirius let out a barking laugh. "That's probably how they do it, line up all the children within a couple of years age and try to pair them off to keep blond hair and grey eyes. No wonder Lucius married Cissy! Or Molly and Arthur! They've probably got their eye on Harry and Sophie, you know, since Lily was a redhead there's a good possibility - "
Sophie felt disgusted at that thought. She only knew Percy, Fred, George and Ron out of the Weasley brothers, but she wouldn't marry any of them! Seeing that James and Sirius weren't being so serious any more, she made her way back to her room, her earlier trip for a glass of water forgotten.
Narcissa wasn't the only Black sister to show up to Ruffy Ends with alternative motives that weekend. Andromeda stopped by the next day, saying that she needed to speak with James and Sophie about something. Although Andromeda's motives were usually for good, and this time was no exception.
The three of them sat around the kitchen table, with cups of tea and a plate of biscuits, a situation that gave Sophie a sense of deja vu from the day before. Andromeda had a friendlier air about her than her sister, but she could be just as prim and proper.
"I heard that you turned down the Greengrasses' invitation to have Sophie spend a weekend with them in Greece this August." Andromeda looked sharply at James over her tea cup. She didn't wait long to make the point of her visit known.
Sophie immediately perked up at that. She had been horribly upset when James said no, and locked herself in her room and ignored him for an entire weekend, thinking he was being unfair. She had tried to plead her case to Sirius, but he had decided to not get involved in this dispute. Maybe Andromeda might be able to persuade him to let her go.
"You've never had a problem letting Harry go anywhere with the Weasleys," Andromeda continued, "While I've told you time and again that Sappho and Hyperion are good friends of mine and I can personally vouch for them."
"The Greengrasses seem like nice people, but I don't know them well enough to let them take Sophie out of the country," James firmly told her. "I've had no problem letting Sophie visit Astoria here in England."
"I'd still encourage fostering a better relationship with the Greengrasses. A girl like Sophie needs more older witches in her life, as role models, especially without Lily around. Aunts, cousins, family friends, the mothers of her friends - " Andromeda let the last part hang for a moment, before continuing. "You and Sirius have done a wonderful job raising them, I won't take that away from you, but there are some things that may require a witch's knowledge now that she's getting a little older. For example, I don't suppose you noticed that Sophie can't go much longer without a brassiere."
Sophie flushed horribly, not expecting that turn of conversation. While she had noticed during the year that she was the only girl without even a training bra, it wasn't something she knew how to ask her Dad about. It seemed that that was something James hadn't even considered, and he looked bewildered for a moment, before sweetly asking Andromeda to do him a favour. Andromeda looked triumphant as she made her suggestion, looking every bit the Slytherin she had been.
So that was how Sophie ended up on a girls' weekend trip with Andromeda and the Greengrasses. They stayed at The Vesta, a rather nice hotel chain that was located in most major cities with a significant wizarding population. Tonks was supposed to come, but got caught up in some investigation and had to work the weekend, much to Andromeda's dismay.
They had breakfast at one of the cafés along Le Chemin de Traverse, Paris' equivalent to Diagon Alley. They chose to eat outside since it was shaping up to be a beautiful morning. A great-horned owl appeared, dropping a letter in front of Daphne. She immediately scooped it up.
"It's from Pansy," she quickly added, "I should go read it in private."
She quickly disappeared, leaving the owl at her place at the table. He hooted happily as Sophie offered him a piece of her croissant and stroked his feathers.
"Daph's got a boyfriend," Sappho explained, with a trace of amusement in her voice. "But she thinks she can keep it a secret from her mother."
Astoria grinned, clearly already in the know about Daphne's secret relationship. She didn't confirm it though.
"Dora likes to tell me everything," Andromeda sighed, "It's enough to turn my hair grey. She changes boyfriends as often as - " She trailed off with a rue smile, clearly exasperated with her wild daughter.
"She changes knickers?" Sappho slyly supplied.
Sophie doubted Tonks had had that many boyfriends. Sure, Tonks had a new one every time she seen her, but they lasted for a few weeks or months at least. Knickers were changed much more frequently. Sophie glanced at Astoria, but her cheeks were red and she was determinately avoiding eye contact.
Andromeda shook her head, trying not to laugh. "I'm starting to regret telling James you were a good influence! Don't tell me you put these ideas into Dora's head!"
Sappho winked at Astoria and Sophie. "I'll tell you girls the exact same as I told Dora, you only get to be young once and you might as well enjoy it. The spouse and children can come later. And if Sirius gives you any flack about the number of boyfriends you have, dear, come see me and we'll see what kind of dirt I remember from his younger days."
Sophie laughed, making a note of that. With three males in her family and no female voice of reason, she suspected they would all be a little too wand-happy and want to hex her first boyfriend. "Thanks Sappho."
Andromeda and Sappho had packed a busy schedule in their trip. None of the girls had been to Paris in years, so they made sure to do a few of the usual tourist attractions as well as some shopping along Le Chemin de Traverse. There were only so many places a witch could shop in England, and after a while they all looked like they were wearing the same robes in different colours.
Their shopping trip ended with a visit to Celeste, a boutique with custom dress robes. Daphne's school list had required she bring a set this year, and she had out-grown even the expansion charms on her last pair. Astoria and Sophie's lists didn't have dress robes on them, but Sappho decided they should be measured anyway. Astoria's others were deemed too 'young' looking while Sophie didn't have any at all.
While Sappho and Andromeda commented on the sapphire blue dress robes that Daphne had tried on in the back, Astoria and Sophie sorted through a rack of robes. They seemed to be made with older teens and young adults in mind, and Sophie doubted they would fit right on them, even with the alteration charms.
A pair of older girls were looking through them as well. One of them was strikingly beautiful, with silver-blonde hair and a tall willowy figure. She seemed to have a silvery glow about her. Sophie thought she could try on any dress in the shop and look fabulous. Her friend, who would normally be considered beautiful, seemed to pale in comparison.
The girl pulled a pretty silver dress from the rack and held it up to herself and said something. Sophie didn't understand French, but one of the words was unmistakably 'Hogwarts'.
Astoria tilted her head in thought, before lowering her voice and fingering the lacy detailing on a golden robe. "I didn't know Hogwarts took transfer students."
"Do you understand?" Sophie whispered.
Astoria nodded, whispering back, "A little. They were talking about going to Hogwarts this year. I didn't catch much."
They were interrupted after that, Andromeda had found a couple age-appropriate robes for Sophie to try on and ushered her into one of the changing rooms. The pair of French girls were soon forgotten.
A/N Le Chemin de Traverse is what Diagon Alley is called in the French translation. It means Crossroads according to google translate.