The weeks seemed to just fly by for Harriet and much has happened since her first handshake with her twin.
Slowly people found out about her connection to the Potters, it wasn't easy to be subject to stares and people whispering as she passed, but Draco and the others helped distract her from the gossip spreading throughout the school. She is just glad it has yet to be in the Daily Prophet.
And despite the house rivalries between Slytherin and Gryffindor, her and Charlus has at least spent two days out of the week either studying or just hanging out by the lake together.
Usually they would have to go alone without their friends because Ron or Draco would begin to fight like cats and dogs, it was quite annoying really especially during their first flying lessons when Draco taunted her brother and the Weasel.
Longbottom lost control of his broom and ended up breaking his wrist, causing the flying instructor to leave a bunch of first years and brooms alone.
Surely nothing could go wrong, not true unfortunately, because Neville dropped his rememball which Draco spotted and as soon as he picked it up Ron puffed up like a angry cat demanding him to give it back.
Of course unknown to the Gryffindors Draco did plan on giving it back to Longbottom himself but could not pass the opportunity to mess with the red head.
Her brother bless his noble hearted soul came into Ron's and Neville's defense, which lead to him chasing Draco on his broom and miraculously catching the clear ball in the air after Draco threw it.
Besides getting into trouble like her cousin did once Snape found out, her brother somehow got landed on the Gryffindor quidditch team as their new seeker, much to her cousins and the rest of Slytherin houses annoyance.
Other than that things were going well, Sirius replied back to a letter she sent, he was upset and wary with the Potters and made sure to tell her to be careful.
He also congratulated her on her sorting into Slytherin and grandfather was so happy, he sent her a box of goodies and a slightly illegal book that she quickly had to hide, the crazy old man seemed to forget where she was.
She was also top of her class which caused her to form a bit of a rivalry with the Muggleborn Granger, the buck tooth girl seemed very annoyed when Harri got the spell or her potion done first, and better than what she could ever accomplish.
Lily Potter still left her alone, though she did hover around her during charms class and always had this strange look upon her face like she was constantly in a battle with herself on what she wanted to do.
Samhain quickly caught up with them today, and Harri woke up extremely annoyed and irritable for reasons she did not understand until at breakfast.
She witnessed a unusually larger number of people surrounding her brother and giving him vast amount of praise, today marks the tenth year of his defeat of the dark lord.
Oh right, she thought bitterly, today was the day her life went to hell.
She stabbed her sausage with her fork so hard that it bent a little and beside her Blaise looked at her warily and asked " What's got your knickers in a twist?"
With a yelp he rubbed his arm as he looked at her with fake hurt when she hit him with her fist and said in a hiss " Today marks the day that my life went to hell!"
" Ah" he said " I'll make sure the others know so as to save them from your wrath."
She pouted at him and said " I'm sorry Blaise, it's just so hard for me to suffer this day, while you look at my perfect brother over there basking in the sheep's praise!"
He glanced over to the Gryffindor table and said " Well he does seem to enjoy it" he then looked at her and said " I thought you two were getting along rather well."
With a frown she replied " Well we have, it's been rocky but I think things have been going ok."
Then with a shrug she said " At least in my opinion, better than what I thought our relationship was going to be, especially since he still hates Slytherins."
She glared a bit in Charlus direction and said " Did you know he told me I could get resorted if I wanted to?" Scoffing she continued " Said his parents are really close with the headmaster and he was sure he could get him to make it happen."
Snorting Blaise said " I'm not surprised at that at all. Probably part of his hero complex that he has to save his long lost sister from the dark evil snakes before it's too late."
Giggling Harri swooned with her head on Blaises shoulder and her hand covering her face in a dramatic pose and said " Oh woe is me! Chosen one please save me from this den of snakes!"
The Slytherins in hearing distance started to laugh and shake their head at the Black heirs antics, Flint the Slytherin quidditch team captain stood up from his seat and knelt before her with his arms outstretched and said in a dramatic voice.
" Oh dark princess! I fear it's too late for your golden lion to save you! For your once light heart has been corrupted by Slytherins noble house!"
She with the rest of the Slytherins started to laugh uproariously, which caused the rest of the other houses to stare at the house of snakes quizzically, and Snape to glare at them for loosing their decorum.
They quickly settled back down and the burly fifth year gave her a wink and ruffled her hair as he got back up to his seat.
Shaking his head Blaise said " You really know how to cause a scene don't you Black."
She smirked at him and replied " I learned from the best."
Happily she finished her breakfast her mind off of what was troubling her and she began to hope the rest of the day went just as well.
Unfortunately, for her the day only got more strenuous, everywhere she went there were people talking about her brother or to her mild horror talking about her, and how horrible it must be for Charlus to have such a dark twin.
Her friends bless them was trying their best to keep her spirts high, but if one more kid tries to send a tripping jinx in her direction she will snap.
It was finally time for the Halloween feast and though she was disappointed in not being able to perform the proper hallowed rights to honor her ancestors. Harri and every Slytherin made sure to set aside a small portion of their meal in order to make up for it.
Her and Daphne was currently laughing at the Hufflepuffs, who had an infestation of spiders and centipedes that were crawling all over their plates and food, Draco gave her a knowing look and rolled his eyes at the devious smirk she flashed at him.
But all good mirth was quickly forgotten when Professor Quirrell burst into the great hall and ran all the way to the teachers table, his turbon was slightly eschewed and he was breathing harshly as he yelled out " TROLL! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know!" And then promptly feinted in the middle of the hall.
As everyone around her started to scream and scramble from their seats Harri sat there stunned, surely this is some sort of cruel Halloween joke.
But as she looked to the other teachers she realized that this was no joke.
Even Professor Snape looked mildly alarmed by the defense Professors announcement.
There was a loud bang and purple smoke that came from Professor Dumbledores wand which seemed to stop everybody in their panic.
" Students" he started his face looking grim " Please follow your prefects quickly and quietly to your common rooms. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."
Harri looked toward the Gryffindor table and let out a slight breath of relief to see Charlus lining up behind his house perfects, knowning him he would end up facing the troll if left unsupervised the foolish idiot.
Since the Slytherins common room was in the dungeons and the Hufflepuffs was in the basement both houses decided to hold fort in the library, hoping that the troll didn't make his way up any floors.
Meanwhile Charlus and Ron was following Ron's older brother Percy the prefect, when he suddenly realized that Hermione has been locked away in the girls toilet crying all day because Ron can't keep his fat mouth shut.
He reached out to grab Ron's sleeve and whispered " Hermione doesn't know about the troll"
Ron's eyes went wide and a guilty look crossed his features and he said " What do we do Charlie?"
Charlie started breaking off from the other Gryffindors and into a pack of Hufflepuffs with Ron following closely behind and he replied back " We'll have to go and warn her, come on I've heard from Lavender that she was in the first floor bathroom."
Both boys managed to sneak their way to the first floor but upon hearing footsteps behind them they quickly hid behind a nearby tapestry.
Peaking out they both spotted Professor Snape making his way up to the next floor.
" What's he up too?" said Ron he looked at Charlie and asked " Isn't the troll supposed to be in the dungeons?"
Charlus frowned in contemplation and replied " Dunno, come on the bathroom is just down the hall."
Once the coast was clear both boys left their hiding spot only to be bombarded with the most horrid smell.
It was like a week old pair of dirty socks that sat for far too long in a vat of rotten cheese.
To the boys horror the thing that created the awful smell was the twelve foot tall mountain troll, it seemed to have made its way up two floors and was heading straight into the girls bathroom.
They heard a scream and both boys rushed down the hall yelling out " Hermione!"
As they made their way to the doorway the troll lifted his heavy club that he was carrying and swung it down on the sink faucets shattering them upon impact.
Hermoine screamed and Charlie yelled out to Ron " We have to distract it!" And began to pick up fallen debris to throw at the trolls coconut sized head.
Ron picked up a big metal pipe and yelled out " OI! Pea brain!" As he chucked it. The pipe hit the beast on the back of his skull which caused it to turn around with a confused look upon its ugly face.
As it approached Ron, Charlie was trying to coach Hermoine through the small gap between the trolls trunk sized legs and what was left of the stalls, but she was too frozen in fear to move.
The troll swung his great club again hitting the wall which busted up more tile and Hermione screamed again in terror, which brought the trolls attention back to her.
Charlie took his wand in hand and ran and jumped landing on top of the trolls back. The troll tried to shake him off and in the fast movement his wand somehow ended up in the beast nose causing it to grunt in pain.
Ron desperate on what to do to help his friends took out his own wand and preformed the spell " Windgardum Leviosa" and the trolls club lifted from its grasp and hovered over top its head.
When Ron let it go it smacked with a great thud on top of the trolls skull knocking it out cold.
All three children briefly stood there in shock and when Hermione asked " Is it dead?"
Charlie with a look of disgust reached out to pull his wand out of the beast nose and said " No just knocked out."
Just then Professors Mcgonagall, Snape and Qurriell along with, to Charlie's dispare, his mother Lily Potter came storming into the room.
" CHARLUS JAMES POTTER!" The red head screamed " Just what were you thinking! You could have died!" She then rushed over to him and began to check him over for any injuries.
When finding none she then smacked him in the back of his head and said " Your father and I raised you better than this Charlus James, just wait til I tell your father you've been trying to fight a fully grown mountain troll." Then she crushed him in a bone breaking hug.
Mcgonagall looked upon the three children and said in a stern voice " Just what do you three think you were doing! Why were you not in your common rooms like the rest of your classmates?"
Just before Charlie or Ron could open their mouth to explain, Hermoine stepped forward a guilty and ashamed look upon her face and she said " It was my fault Professor McGonagall, I've read up on trolls you see and I thought that I could take one on."
Both the boys were giving her stunned looks, then immediately started to nod their head yes when Hermione continued on to say " Charlie and Ron tried to stop me you see."
Mcgonagall frowned at the young girl and said " Ms. Granger I would have never thought that you would be capable of such foolishness."
Hermoine looked down tears started to form in her eyes and the Professor continued " Be it as it may, not many first years can take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. So I am taking five points from Gryffindor Ms. Granger and awarding five points to Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley for pure dumb luck."
The children looked excited and shocked at each other, Lily patted her son affectingly on his shoulder and Snape glared at them all. Quirrell just sat upon a toilet looking at the troll with a terrified expression upon his pale face.
The next day the school was bustling with the news of what Charlus and his friends did and on their way to dinner after a long day of being congratulated and asked by everyone what happened, A very angry Harriet Black came storming over to Charlus.
Her eyes were like a green inferno and they seemed to burn Charlus upon his skin as that frightful gaze locked upon him.
He raised his hand in a wave and meekly said " Hey Harri...OW!" He yelped as the angry first year belted him on the back of his head.
" What were you thinking you bumbling, reckless fool!"
He lifted his hands up in defense from another blow and said " What did I do Harri?!"
Lifting her chin up and giving him her best impersonation of one Severus Snape she said " You acted like a complete imbecile! Going out there chasing trolls and then if you please strutting around with your nose stuck up in the air as the whole school sings your praises!"
He glared back and said " Don't be mad at me cause your jealous!" Her eyes went wide then morphed into her usual cold face that has not been directed at Charlus in months.
" Oh I see, jealous am I?" Charlie nodded his head yes and said " You wouldn't be acting like this if you wasn't, I see the way you stare, always glowering in my direction because I am the famous one while you were hidden away."
He immediately regretted what he just said and was shocked to see tears to begin to form in her eyes, before he could apologize she said in a voice so cold that it sent ice shooting down his spine.
" Well if that's how you confuse my concern for jealousy then I really see how you feel about me." Shaking her head she continued " I shall take my leave then heir Potter."
And with that she spun around and made her way past the great hall and all the way down in the dungeons, no one saw as the tears fell from her eyes.
The weeks that followed seemed to have past in a blur, Slytherin had their first quidditch game against Gryffindor and despite how her brother hurt her her heart still felt like it stopped when his broom tried to buck him off.
Observing the teachers stands with her binoculars she witnessed both Professors Quirrell and Snape whispering under their breath and looking directly at Charlie.
She knew that Snape would never hurt the boy who lived so her suspicions of Quirrell just skyrocketed. Before she could make her way over she noticed Snapes robes catch on fire which caused both him and Quirrell to lose concentration, much to her relief her brother was now safe and of course caught the snitch much to the angry shouting coming from Draco and Blaise either side of her.
The leaves turned and fell and a heavy snow began to fall as the Yule holidays approached closer.
Harri was excited to spend her very first Yule with her father and family. The Dursley's never let her in their Christmas celebrations, always locking her away in her cupboard after she prepared Christmas dinner.
Often she wondered what it would be like to be able to join them and silently crying to herself as she heard the happy cheers coming from her cousin as he opened his many presents.
But this was different, this time she had a family that actually loved her and wanted to be in her company.
Sometimes she can't help but to think that the last five months has all been a dream, she hopes not because it is the best dream she had ever had.
Well except for the bit where her and Charlus has seem to part ways, it still hurt to think that he thought she was jealous of him. Perhaps she would have been if she didn't have Sirius, jealous that their parents kept him and not her. He would never know the pain of hunger gnawing at his insides nor the terror of meaty fists and angry words.
As she explored the castle that was completely decked out for the season, the suits of armor sung carols and the great hall had giant beautiful green trees that was strung up in tinsel and baubles that shined and gleamed in the candlelight, she ran into her brother. Speak of the devil and he shall appear indeed.
He looked like he was in battle with himself and as she passed by him he reached out to grab her arm and he said " Wait Harri!" She stopped but did not turn to look at him.
He sighed and said " Listen I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't mean it and immediately regretted saying it."
She slightly turned her head and cocked a brow, embolden he continued " I've been wanting to talk to you for weeks now but" and he began to rub the back of his neck " You Slytherins really know how to stick together eh?"
Her lips twitched but then morphed back into a firm line, Charlie looked at her pleadingly and said " Look I know you are not jealous and this has just been so hard on us both. I know you were only thinking of my well being and I really messed up."
He smiled at her and asked " Can you please forgive me?"
She looked him up and down and replied " Against my better judgment I will" at this his smile broaden and before he could say anything she continued " But, when either of us have a problem with the other we must communicate. No name calling and no yelling or assuming the worst of each other."
He nodded his head and said " Yes I can agree to that.. sister."
Then he stuck his hands deep in his pockets and asked her " Christmas break is coming up and I see that your name isn't on the list of students who are going to stay at the castle."
Lifting her brow and crossing her arms Harri gave him a get on with it look, he said " I was wondering if perhaps you would like to spend the holidays with me and mum and dad?"
Frowning Harri replied " I appreciate that gesture Charlie but I don't want anything to do with them, plus I already have plans to spend Yule with my father and grandfather."
He looked dejected but said " That's good you'll be with them, but if you ever change your mind just send an owl ok."
Nodding her head she said " Ok."
Then Charlie grabbed her hand and said " Come on I have to show you something really neat I found!"
Begrudgingly she allowed him to lead her down the hall and to another floor when they stepped outside a unused classroom.
He looked back at her excitement glitteringly in those hazel eyes and he said " I've found this a couple days ago while exploring the castle."
He opened the door and as they walked in Harri saw that the room was nearly empty, it housed only a tall mirror that was sitting in the middle of the room.
When they approached the mirror she could read etched on the frame above Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. " What sort of language is that" she asked her brother.
He shrugged his shoulders and replied " Dunno, but I think it shows the future or something."
Looking at him incredulously she asked " Oh and what makes you think that?"
Smiling he said " I see myself as the best seeker in the world! I'm playing for Puddlemere United! That's mine and dad's favorite quidditch team."
Rolling her eye she approached the mirror and froze at the image before her. She saw a older version of herself, power seemed to radiate from every pore and standing just behind her with their hands upon her shoulders and pride gleaming in their eyes was her father and grandfather.
Standing next to her was a tall man, a devilish smirk upon his handsome features and he had red hellfire eyes that she recognized to be the eyes that haunted her dreams. Who was this man and what does he mean to her.
The image seemed to draw her in and then with a jerk she looked away quickly.
" Charlie" she began " There is something not right about this mirror."
Frowning the boy turned to her and asked " What do you mean? It shows the future how could it be bad?"
Turning to look him in the eye she said " It's just a feeling I have, promise me not to return to this mirror."
He sighed and nodded his head and said " Ok, Harri"
Both children left the room their thoughts stuck on what they saw.
Harri waited til the day everyone was settled in the train and headed on for break when she let slip that she and Charlie are no longer fighting. Draco rubbed the palm of his hand against his face and groaned " I can't believe you are giving that prat a second chance!"
Daphne nodded her head and added " Especially since he thinks your jealous, he's so full of himself."
Harri frowned at her friends and said " I know but I just can't help it, he's family and that's very important for a Black." Then looking toward Draco she continued " You should know cousin dearest, your mother can be quite scary when it comes to family. Also look at my father for example, Sirius completely rejected his family and his dark core when he was a foolish child. He even fought for Dumbledore in his order! Now look at him."
She smiled fondly and said " He learned the hard way as grandfather Arcturus always says. After the Potters threw me away he reformed ties with aunt Narcissa and well as they say the rest is history."
Theo looked up from his book and said " I can understand that Harri I really do but what makes you think he will be like Lord Black?"
Blaise nodded his head and said " Yes, unlike your father he comes from a light family."
" I know that" Harri began " I don't expect him to go dark or anything, it would just be nice if he could be a little more understanding and accepting that's all."
Draco frowned and said " Just be careful ok cousin, I don't won't to see you get hurt and frankly I trust him as much as I trust Dumbledore."
Sighing Harri replied " I promise to be careful."
The rest of the train ride was spent in peaceful silence and when they finally arrived at kings cross Harri wished her friends a blessed Yule and her and Draco made their way toward their family who was waiting on them.
Sirius swooped down and squeezed Harri tight crying in her ear " Oh pup it's so good to see you! I've missed you so much."
Harri patted his back a broad smile on her face and replied " I missed you too dad."
He sniffed and let her go ruffling her hair he said " Did you get taller while you were away pup?"
She stuck her tongue out much to his amusement and turned her attention to aunt Narcissa and said " It's good to see you aunt Cissa, I hope you are well."
Smiling gently down at the girl she reached out to hug her and said " I've been doing well, it's good to see you as well little one." She then stood up and looked at her and Draco saying " I do hope you two have been behaving yourselves."
With mischievous smirks both children said " Of course we have, been good as gold!"
She shook her head then turned to Sirius " Make sure you don't forget our annual Yule Ball this year cousin, you now have an heir to present."
Gulping the man replied " Don't worry Cissa I'll make sure we will be there." Then he winked at Harri and whisked her off back home to Grimmauld Place.