Genevieve was awake before everyone else in the house, sitting in the back gardeneating the cereal she'd gotten for herself. She hadn't been sleeping well lately due to the dreams she'd been having. And they were all the same. She was being held by someone… who was flying on a broomstick. A woman who had been crying as she handed baby Genevieve to an old man with long white hair and a beard to match. But she always woke up before she saw, or heard, anything else. And she always woke up with tears in her eyes from it. She had no idea what the dream meant, but she recognized the front door of Number 4, Privet Drive. And Harry. Her twin brother and only friend. It was no secret that the Dursleys reluctantly took Harry and Genevieve in when their parents died. They hated the twins, and it showed. Anytime they were nice to the two, it was only because they were around other people and had no other choice. But they didn't let them around other people very often. Except when they went somewhere with their son, Dudley. Then Harry and Genevieve went down the street to stay with their neighbor, Mrs. Figg. Only then would they get to have some semblance of happiness. Or affection. Gen was brought out of her thoughts by aunt Petunia's voice coming from the open back door.
"What are you doing back there? Get back in the house right now!"
"Yes, aunt Petunia."
Gen sighed softly to herself as she finished her cereal, drinking the milk as she walked back inside, taking off her shoes so she wouldn't track anything through the house. Aunt Petunia hated mess and would scream and shout if someone made the house messy. Especially Harry and Gen. She put her bowl in the sink and rinsed it out before going to wake Harry up. Only to find Dudley had already done it. Rudely. As usual. She let Dudley pass her and go into the kitchen before opening up the cupboard door, looking at her brother and helping him out.
"You alright?"
"Yeah. Mornings as usual. Did you get any sleep last night?"
"No. But I did get to watch telly while everyone was asleep. I came to ask if you wanted to watch with me, but you were asleep."
"How many nights has it been since you slept?"
"Too many to count. But I'm fine."
They were interrupted by aunt Petunia barking at Harry to come in and make breakfast for everyone. They both rolled their eyes and walked into the kitchen. Harry went to finish making the bacon while Gen made coffee, pouring some for uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia before helping Harry with the eggs as Petunia brought Dudley into the living room so he could open up his birthday presents. Of course he would throw a fit.
'Stupid little spoiled fat boy.'
Gen shook her head as she thought to herself, sitting down next to Harry as he ate, stealing some of his bacon. She started talking with him, both of them shocked beyond belief when uncle Vernon announced that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg and couldn't watch Harry and Genevieve. Neither could anyone else. Which meant they'd be brought to the zoo with the Dursleys and the one friend Dudley had. Neither of them had been to the zoo before, but they weren't excited about going. A couple hours of Harry being picked on by Dudley and Genevieve being teased by Piers. When they got to the zoo, it wasn't quite what they'd expected. The twins were given ice cream (lemon popsicles that cost considerably less than the ice creams that everyone else got, but still good) and mostly stuck to themselves. Especially when they got to the reptile house. Dudley had gotten tired of a Brazilian boa constrictor that wasn't doing what he wanted it to do. Harry went up to snake's tank and apologized to it while Gen went to look in on another snake that was slithering around its tank. She looked over when she heard Harry talking to someone. Only to find him talking to the snake. And the snake was talking back! Her eyes went wide as she watched the interaction, wondering if she was imagining the whole thing. And then it happened. As if it were happening in slow motion, she watched the glass disappear as Dudley rapped on the glass. She watched him fall into the tank as Harry fell to the ground. She went over to help him up as Petunia screamed, a couple of staff running over to help Dudley out as the boa slithered out of the reptile house, saying a thanks to Harry. Then everything was chaotic. And somehow Harry was in trouble.
Genevieve was coming in from working in the garden. One of the few things that she did that Petunia didn't yell at her for. It was relaxing for Gen when she worked in the backyard and the weeding got done. It was a win-win. She'd finally been able to sleep the last few nights since the incident at the zoo. But that wasn't the end of the strange events happening around them. She'd started noticing that owls were being spotted during the day. And more and more were coming, a few of them dropping off letters addressed to Harry and Genevieve. But everytime they would try to see the letters, Vernon would destroy them. The longer this went on, the crazier Vernon became. Harry and Genevieve started sharing a room, but still the letters kept coming. It got to the point where the yards were filled with owls of all shapes, sizes and colors. And Vernon decided to move the family to a shack in the middle of some isolated island that was surrounded on all sides by water. Gen and Harry were given spots on the floor to sleep on, Dudley slept on the couch while Vernon and Petunia slept in the only bedroom in the shack. It was cold, the noises from the storm and waves outside were near deafening and they were minutes away from Harry and Gen's birthday.
"Hands down the worst birthday ever. Even last year's birthday was better than this."
"I know. But it'll be alright, Gen. Just try and get some sleep."
"How am I supposed to? Everytime I start falling asleep there's more thunder and then I wake up."
"Well, then…."
Their conversation was interrupted by something hitting the door with such strength that the whole shack shook a little. She moved closer to Harry as Dudley when the knock happened, the shack shaking more. As the third knock happened, then Petunia and Vernon came down with a shotgun in his hands. Gen didn't know what to be scared of more. The fact that the shack could fall down around them and crush them all, or the fact that Vernon had a gun. And then the door was knocked off of its hinges, revealing the shadow of a huge man who had to duck to walk inside. Gen let Harry pull her next to the fireplace to hide. Both of them listened to the man ask for her and Harry, trembling as they walked out from their hiding spot. Looking up at the giant man, Gen thought she would pass out from the sight. But the longer he was there, the more she warmed up to him. Even more when she and Harry were given their first birthday cake.
'Happee Birthdae'
"Umm… Thank you, Hagrid. This is really nice of you."
"Think nothin' of it. It's just good I fin'lly found you two. Dumbledore's a bit worried about you two. You haven't been respondin' to the letters."
Gen and Harry shared a look before looking back at Hagrid, who was now taking food out of his coat, making breakfast for everyone. Gen was in stunned silence as she, Harry and Hagrid ate. She listened to Hagrid talk about some place, a school called Hogwarts, where students could learn magic. Which made Vernon and Petunia angrier than they were when Hagrid burst into the door. In the ensuing argument, Hagrid let it slip that Lily and James, Harry and Genevieve's parents were killed by someone named Lord Voldemort. The name sent a shiver down Genevieve's spine and caused an ache in her heart. She looked over at Hagrid, picking up the tea cup he'd given her.
"Who's Lord Voldemort?"
"Only the mos' evil wizard in Great Britain. On Halloween ten years ago, he walked through town and killed Harry's parents."
"You mean our parents?"
"I forge' tha' you don't know. Harry isn't your brother."
Harry stood there in confusion, glancing at Gen for a second.
"Then who are her parents?"
Hagrid looked at Harry with guilt and sorrow in his eyes. Even Dudley could tell that he was stumbling over the words in his head. But Genevieve didn't need him to say it. The realization of her family, her real family, washed over her, tears filling her eyes as the tea cup falling out of her hands, a shard of it cutting her leg and she stayed still, feeling like the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She couldn't bring herself to look at anybody, the weight of that realization coming down on her shoulders.